Overexpression of the ThTPS gene enhanced salt and osmotic stress tolerance in Tamarix hispida

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide with high stability and strong water absorption properties that can improve the resistance of organisms to various abiotic stresses. Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) plays important roles in trehalose metabolism and signaling. In this study, the full-length cDNA of ThTPS was cloned from Tamarix hispida Willd. A phylogenetic tree including ThTPS and 11 AtTPS genes from Arabidopsis indicated that the ThTPS protein had a close evolutionary relationship with AtTPS7. However, the function of AtTPS7 has not been determined. To analyze the abiotic stress tolerance function of ThTPS, the expression of ThTPS in T. hispida under salt and drought stress and JA, ABA and GA3 hormone stimulation was monitored by qRT-PCR. The results show that ThTPS expression was clearly induced by all five of these treatments at one or more times, and salt stress caused particularly strong induction of ThTPS in the roots of T. hispida. The ThTPS gene was transiently overexpressed in T. hispida. Both physiological indexes and staining results showed that ThTPS gene overexpression increased salt and osmotic stress tolerance in T. hispida. Overall, the ThTPS gene can respond to abiotic stresses such as salt and drought, and its overexpression can significantly improve salt and osmotic tolerance. These findings establish a foundation to better understand the responses of TPS genes to abiotic stress in plants.