Transcriptome-Wide Identification and Functional Characterization of CIPK Gene Family Members in under Salt Stress.

Fruit plants are severely constrained by salt stress in the soil due to their sessile nature. Ca sensors, which are known as CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs), transmit abiotic stress signals to plants. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate the molecular regulatory role of CIPKs underlying salt stress tolerance in kiwifruit. In the current study, we have identified 42 genes from (). All the s were divided into four different phylogenetic groups. Moreover, these genes showed different conserved motifs. The expression pattern analysis showed that was specifically highly expressed under salt stress. The overexpression of in 'Hongyang' (a salt sensitive commercial cultivar from ) enhanced salt tolerance by maintaining K/Na homeostasis in the leaf and positively improving the activity of POD. In addition, the salt-related genes and had higher expression in overexpression lines. Collectively, our study suggested that is involved in the positive regulation of salt tolerance in kiwifruit.