The BTB-TAZ protein MdBT2 negatively regulates the drought stress response by interacting with the transcription factor MdNAC143 in apple.

Drought stress is a severe source of abiotic stress that can affect apple yield and quality, yet the underlying molecular mechanism of the drought stress response and the role of MdBT2 in the process remain unclear. Here, we find that MdBT2 negatively regulates the drought stress response. Both in vivo and in vitro assays indicated that MdBT2 interacted physically with and ubiquitinated MdNAC143, a member of the NAC TF family that is a positive regulator under drought stress. In addition, MdBT2 promotes the degradation of MdNAC143 via the 26S proteasome system. A series of transgenic assays in apple calli and Arabidopsis verify that MdBT2 confers susceptibility to drought stress at least in part by the regulation of MdNAC143. Overall, our findings provide new insight into the mechanism of MdBT2, which functions antagonistically to MdNAC143 in regulating drought stress by regulating the potential downstream target protein MdNAC143 for proteasomal degradation in apple.