The DEAD-box RNA helicases and multiple abiotic stresses in plants: a systematic review of recent advances and challenges

Abstract

Major crop production does not yet match the population growth rate because multiple abiotic stresses hamper the growth and yield of these crops. Most of the plants can tolerate adverse climatic conditions by performing some adaptive machineries but to certain extent. Till date various biotechnological and molecular breeding research approaches have been directed towards developing resistance to single stress factor. However, development of crop plants resistant to a single stress is not an ideal solution in the current agriculture scenario. Occurrence of multiple stresses at a single point of time makes it difficult to formulate research strategies. Considering the huge loss of crop productivity due to these environmental factors, there is an urgent need to direct our research focus towards developing sustainable multi-stress resistance in plants to counter the adverse effect of climate change on the productivity of crops. RNA helicases are ubiquitous proteins that are found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The largest RNA helicase family comprises the DEAD-box RNA helicases which are involved in many aspects of RNA metabolism and in diverse biological processes in plants including regulation of multiple abiotic stress responses. The DEAD-box RNA helicases can be considered as means to identify pathways involved in multiple abiotic stress tolerance. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in elucidating the functions of the DEAD-box RNA helicases in multiple abiotic stress responses and future challenges. We also briefly discussed about our recent research efforts (published and on-going) in this direction. This review would help to formulate new research endeavours utilizing the DEAD-box helicase genes in development of multiple abiotic stress tolerant plants through genetic engineering and biotechnology. Target specific multiplex and multigene CRISPR/Ca9 genome editing would be ideal approach to edit different abiotic stress responsive DEAD-box RNA helicase genes to develop sustainable multiple abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants.

Quantitative Trait Loci for Freezing Tolerance in a Lowland x Upland Switchgrass Population

“…Genes encoding a zinc finger-CCCH type protein (Xin et al, 2007), WRKY (Ross et al, 2007; Tao et al, 2011), GIGANTEA (Cao et al, 2005; Fornara et al, 2015) and DEAD-box ATPase-RNA-helicase (DRH1) (Mahajan and Tuteja, 2005; Baruah et al, 2017) are co-located with QTL 5K.22, a QTL determined by LT 50 . An ortholog of the dehydration-responsive element-binding protein 2A (DREB2A) (Table 5) in Arabidopsis (Maruyama et al, 2009; Hu et al, 2011), rice (Dubouzet et al, 2003), and foxtail millet (Lata and Prasad, 2014) is also located in this region.…”

Investigation of a Novel Salt Stress-Responsive Pathway Mediated by Arabidopsis DEAD-Box RNA Helicase Gene AtRH17 Using RNA-Seq Analysis

“…Previous studies have shown that some DEAD-box RHs play important roles in the response of plants to abiotic stress such as cold, salt, and osmotic stresses as well as in the development of plants [11][12][13][14][15][16][22][23][24][25]. However, abiotic stress-responsive pathways, in which DEAD-box RH genes are involved, have not been well identified and are limited to a few stress-responsive DEAD-box RH genes such as AtRH38/LOS4, AtRH42/RCF1, STRS1, and STRS2 [13][14][15][16].…”

“…In addition to these conserved motifs, the N-terminal and C-terminal extended regions have also been found in each DEAD-box RH protein, which vary greatly in terms of their size and composition; it has been proposed that they function in determining the substrate-binding specificities as subcellular localization signals or possibly interact with accessory components [7-9].Recent studies have indicated the important roles of DEAD-box RHs in RNA biogenesis, pre-mRNA splicing, RNA export and storage, transcription, translation, and RNA decay as well as in organelle-specific RNA metabolism [2,3]. Furthermore, multiple studies have suggested that DEAD-box RHs also play essential roles in abiotic stress responses in plants through their functions in specific RNA processing events [10,11]. AtRH7 participates in rRNA biogenesis and is involved in cold-tolerance in Arabidopsis [12].…”

“…Recent studies have indicated the important roles of DEAD-box RHs in RNA biogenesis, pre-mRNA splicing, RNA export and storage, transcription, translation, and RNA decay as well as in organelle-specific RNA metabolism [2,3]. Furthermore, multiple studies have suggested that DEAD-box RHs also play essential roles in abiotic stress responses in plants through their functions in specific RNA processing events [10,11]. AtRH7 participates in rRNA biogenesis and is involved in cold-tolerance in Arabidopsis [12].…”

Overexpression of the DEAD-Box RNA Helicase Gene AtRH17 Confers Tolerance to Salt Stress in Arabidopsis

“…In rice, OsRH15 / AIP2 and OsRH56 / AIP1 regulate programmed cell death during tapetum degeneration [28]. In addition, a number of DEAD-box RHs play important roles in plant abiotic stress tolerance via their functions in specific RNA processing events [29,30]. It has been demonstrated that Arabidopsis AtRH38 / LOS4 regulates the expression of DREB/CBFs under chilling stress [16,31]; AtRH7 and AtRH42 / RCF1 are up-regulated under cold-stress conditions.…”