Ectopic Expression of Maize Plastidic Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase ZmMSRB1 Enhances Salinity Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plant methionine sulfoxide reductases (MSRs) can repair oxidative damage done to intracellular proteins and, therefore, play an active role in the response to abiotic stress. However, the function of MSR homologs in maize has not been reported, to the best of our knowledge. In a previous study, we reported that ZmMSRB1 can be induced by salinity stress. In this study, we revealed that ZmMSRB1 is localized to chloroplasts and belongs to the MSRB sub-family. Characterization of an Arabidopsis thaliana msrb1 mutant and lines with ectopic expression of MSRB1 indicated that MSRB1 contributes to tolerance of salinity stress. Overexpression of ZmMSRB1 in Arabidopsis seedlings significantly decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by leading to the downregulation of ROS-generating genes and upregulation of ROS-scavenging genes, which resulted in a significant increase in ROS-scavenging protein activity. ZmMSRB1 overexpression was also found to enhance the expression of Salt Overly Sensitive genes, which maintain intracellular K+/Na+ balance. Furthermore, it resulted in the promotion of expression of key genes involved in glucose metabolism, increasing the soluble sugar content in the leaves. The ZmMSRB1 protein was observed to physically interact with glutathione S-transferase ZmGSTF8 in a yeast two-hybrid assay. GST catalyzes the conjugation of glutathione (GSH) to other compounds, counteracting oxidative damage to cells in vivo. When GSH synthesis was disrupted, the ZmMSRB1-induced response to salinity stress was partially impaired. Together, the findings of the present study indicate that maize MSRB1 promotes resistance to salinity stress by regulating Na+/K+ transport, soluble sugar content, and ROS levels in A. thaliana.