The Wheat NAC Transcription Factor TaNAC2L Is Regulated at the Transcriptional and Post-Translational Levels and Promotes Heat Stress Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

<div><p>Heat stress poses a serious threat to global crop production. In efforts that aim to mitigate the adverse effects of heat stress on crops, a variety of genetic tools are being used to develop plants with improved thermotolerance. The characterization of important regulators of heat stress tolerance provides essential information for this aim. In this study, we examine the wheat (<i>Triticum aestivum</i>) NAC transcription factor gene <i>TaNAC2L</i>. High temperature induced <i>TaNAC2L</i> expression in wheat and overexpression of <i>TaNAC2L</i> in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i> enhanced acquired heat tolerance without causing obvious alterations in phenotype compared with wild type under normal conditions. <i>TaNAC2L</i> overexpression also activated the expression of heat-related genes in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants, suggesting that TaNAC2L may improve heat tolerance by regulating the expression of stress-responsive genes. Notably, TaNAC2L is also regulated at the post-translational level and might be degraded via a proteasome-mediated pathway. Thus, this wheat transcription factor may have potential uses in enhancing thermotolerance in crops.</p>