Overexpression of MfPIP2-7 from Medicago falcata promotes cold tolerance and growth under NO(3)(−) deficiency in transgenic tobacco plants

BACKGROUND: Plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), which belong to aquaporins (AQPs) superfamily, are subdivided into two groups, PIP1 and PIP2, based on sequence similarity. Several PIP2s function as water channels, while PIP1s have low or no water channel activity, but have a role in water permeability through interacting with PIP2. A cold responsive PIP2 named as MfPIP2-7 was isolated from Medicago falcata (hereafter falcata), a forage legume with great cold tolerance, and transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing MfPIP2-7 were analyzed in tolerance to multiple stresses including freezing, chilling, and nitrate reduction in this study. RESULTS: MfPIP2-7 transcript was induced by 4 to 12 h of cold treatment and 2 h of abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Pretreatment with inhibitor of ABA synthesis blocked the cold induced MfPIP2-7 transcript, indicating that ABA was involved in cold induced transcription of MfPIP2-7 in falcata. Overexpression of MfPIP2-7 resulted in enhanced tolerance to freezing, chilling and NO(3)(−) deficiency in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) plants as compared with the wild type. Moreover, MfPIP2-7 was demonstrated to facilitate H(2)O(2) diffusion in yeast. Higher transcript levels of several stress responsive genes, such as NtERD10B, NtERD10C, NtDREB1, and 2, and nitrate reductase (NR) encoding genes (NtNIA1, and NtNIA2) were observed in transgenic plants as compared with the wild type with dependence upon H(2)O(2). In addition, NR activity was increased in transgenic plants, which led to alterations in free amino acid components and concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that MfPIP2-7 plays an important role in plant tolerance to freezing, chilling, and NO(3)(−) deficiency by promoted H(2)O(2) diffusion that in turn up-regulates expression of NIAs and multiple stress responsive genes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-016-0814-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.