High-transcriptional activation ability of bamboo SECONDARY WALL NAC transcription factors is derived from C-terminal domain.

The secondary cell wall, which is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, constitutes woody tissues and gives physical strength and hydrophobic properties for resistance against environmental stresses. We cloned and functionally analyzed the homologous transcription factor (TF) genes of SECONDARY WALL NAC (SWN) proteins from Hachiku bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra; PnSWNs). An RT-PCR analysis showed that PnSWNs are expressed in young tissues in bamboo. Their transcriptional activation activities were higher than that of the Arabidopsis NAC SECONDARY WALL THICKENING PROMOTING FACTOR 3 (NST3) TF, which was equivalent to SWN TFs in monocot. PnSWNs preferred to activate the genes related to secondary cell wall formation but not the genes related to programmed cell death. When PnSWNs were expressed in Arabidopsis, they highly induced secondary cell wall formation, like previously-shown rice SWN1. Dissection analysis revealed that this high activity largely depends on C-terminal domain. These results demonstrate that the cloned bamboo SWNs function as regulators of secondary cell wall formation with strong activation ability derived from C-terminal domain, and could be served as new genetic tools for secondary cell wall manipulation.