Genome-wide identification of NAC family and functional characterization of NtNAC236 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

Tenghang Xu; Jie Liu; Hailan Liu; Jie Zhang; Linggai Cao; Zhixiao Yang; Rengang Wang; Zhenqing Guo; Shizhou Yu

doi:10.1016/j.ygeno.2025.111072

Genome-wide identification of NAC family and functional characterization of NtNAC236 in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)

Genomics. 2025 Jun 27:111072. doi: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2025.111072. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Tenghang Xu¹, Jie Liu², Hailan Liu³, Jie Zhang², Linggai Cao², Zhixiao Yang², Rengang Wang², Zhenqing Guo⁴, Shizhou Yu⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao 066004, China; Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory of China Tobacco, Guizhou Academy of Tobacco Science, Guiyang 550081, China.
² Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory of China Tobacco, Guizhou Academy of Tobacco Science, Guiyang 550081, China.
³ Maize Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, Sichuan, China.
⁴ College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Hebei Normal University of Science and Technology, Qinhuangdao 066004, China. Electronic address: guozq20011@163.com.
⁵ Molecular Genetics Key Laboratory of China Tobacco, Guizhou Academy of Tobacco Science, Guiyang 550081, China. Electronic address: yusz@nwafu.edu.cn.

PMID: 40582425
DOI: 10.1016/j.ygeno.2025.111072

Abstract

Drought stress severely limits crop growth, and NAC transcription factors (TFs) are critical for drought response. In Nicotiana tabacum, we identified 266 NAC genes, among which NtNAC236 emerged as a key drought-responsive TF based on phylogenetic and expression analyses. Overexpressing NtNAC236 in K326 enhanced its drought tolerance, and subcellular localization confirmed its nuclear role. Transcriptome and DAP-Seq analyses of NtNAC236-OE lines and WT plants revealed that NtNAC236 regulates 458 differentially expressed target genes under drought, enriched in stress-response pathways. A co-expression network further linked NtNAC236 to 43 drought-associated genes. Our findings establish NtNAC236 as a pivotal drought-resistance regulator and provide a foundation for mechanistic studies to improve crop drought tolerance.

Keywords: DAP-seq; Drought; NtNAC236; Tobacco; Transcriptomic.