fpls-07-01272 August 22, 2016 Time: 11:41 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 24 August 2016 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01272 An Arabidopsis Zinc Finger Protein Increases Abiotic Stress Tolerance by Regulating Sodium and Potassium Homeostasis, Reactive Oxygen Species Scavenging and Osmotic Potential Dandan Zang1, Hongyan Li1, Hongyun Xu1, Wenhui Zhang1, Yiming Zhang1, Xinxin Shi1 and Yucheng Wang1,2* 1 State Key Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China, 2 Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang, China Plant zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) comprise a large protein family and they are mainly involved in abiotic stress tolerance. Although Arabidopsis RING/FYVE/PHD Edited by: Mohammad Anwar Hossain, ZFP At5g62460 (AtRZFP) is found to bind to zinc, whether it is involved in abiotic Bangladesh Agricultural University, stress tolerance is still unknown. In the present study, we characterized the roles Bangladesh of AtRZFP in response to abiotic stresses. The expression of AtRZFP was induced Reviewed by: significantly by salt and osmotic stress. AtRZFP positively mediates tolerance to salt Xiping Wang, Northwest A&F University, China and osmotic stress. Additionally, compared with wild-type Arabidopsis plants, plants Tzvetina Brumbarova, overexpressing AtRZFP showed reduced reactive oxygen species (ROSs) accumulation, University of Düsseldorf, Germany enhanced superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activity, increased soluble sugars and *Correspondence: C C Yucheng Wang proline contents, reduced K loss, decreased Na accumulation, stomatal aperture
[email protected] and the water loss rate. Conversely, AtRZFP knockout plants displayed the opposite physiological changes when exposed to salt or osmotic stress conditions.