Genome-wide identification of the SmPHR gene family in Salvia miltiorrhiza and SmPHR7-mediated response to phosphate starvation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Abstract

Key message: This study reveals the transcripts of S. miltiorrhiza in response to phosphate deficiency, identifies 18 SmPHRs in the genome, and tentatively establishes a role for SmPHR7 in regulating phosphate starvation. Phosphorus is essential for plant growth and development, and phosphate deficiency is a common nutritional stress. Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) is a traditional Chinese herb whose main active medicinal secondary metabolite is used in the treatment of heart disease. However, the physiological and molecular effects of phosphate starvation in S. miltiorrhiza have not been well studied. Here, we first investigated the effect of phosphate starvation on the growth and major medicinal compounds. Biomass decreased with lower phosphate concentrations, while the accumulation of compounds varied in S. miltiorrhiza. Transcriptome analysis showed that phosphate starvation affected the expression of genes involved in processes such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, glycerolipid metabolism, and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Phosphate starvation response (PHR) transcription factors play an important role in the phosphate starvation response, and we identified 18 PHR family genes in S. miltiorrhiza, distributed across 8 chromosomes. The expression levels of different SmPHR family members in roots and shoots differ in response to phosphate starvation. SmPHR7, which is highly expressed in response to phosphate starvations, was selected for further functional characterization. SmPHR7 has transcriptional activation activity and is localized in the nucleus. Furthermore, the expression of SmPHR7 in the Arabidopsis thaliana mutant phr (SmPHR7-OX) is shown to partially rescue the phosphate starvation phenotype. The expression of the Pi starvation-induced (PSI) gene in SmPHR7-OX showed a significant induction compared to the phr mutant under phosphate starvation. The identification of the SmPHR gene family significantly contributes to a broader understanding of phosphate starvation signaling in S. miltiorrhiza.