, a Protein from , Positively Regulates Salinity Tolerance and Enhances Fructan Levels in .

Fructans play vital roles in abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this study, we isolated the sucrose:6-fructosyltransferase gene, which is involved in the synthesis of fructans, from by rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The gene was introduced into cv. Columbia by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The transgenic plants were evaluated under salt stress conditions. The results showed that the expression of was significantly induced by light, abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), and salt treatment in plants. Overexpression of in Arabidopsis promoted seed germination and primary root growth during the early vegetative growth stage under salt stress. We also found that the transgenic plants expressing had increased proline and fructan levels. β-Glucuronidase staining and promoter analysis indicated that the promoter of was regulated by light, ABA, and salt stress. Quantitative PCR suggested that overexpression of could improve salt tolerance by interacting with the expression of some salt stress tolerance genes. Thus, we demonstrated that the gene is a candidate gene that potentially confers salt stress tolerance to plants. Our study will aid the elucidation of the regulatory mechanism of genes in herb plants.