Plant non-specific lipid-transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are small, basic proteins present in abundance in higher plants. They are involved in key processes of plant cytology, such as the stablization of membranes, cell wall organization, and signal transduction. nsLTPs are also known to play important roles in resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, and in plant growth and development, such as sexual reproduction, seed development and germination. The structures of plant nsLTPs contain an eight-cysteine residue conserved motif, linked by four disulfide bonds, and an internal hydrophobic cavity, which comprises the lipid-binding site. This structure endows stability and increases the ability to bind and/or carry hydrophobic molecules. There is growing interest in nsLTPs, due to their critical roles, resulting in the need for a comprehensive review of their form and function. Relevant topics include: nsLTP structure and biochemical features, their classification, identification, and characterization across species, sub-cellular localization, lipid binding and transfer ability, expression profiling, functionality, and evolution. We present advances, as well as limitations and trends, relating to the different topics of the nsLTP gene family. This review collates a large body of research pertaining to the role of nsLTPs across the plant kingdom, which has been integrated as an in depth functional analysis of this group of proteins as a whole, and their activities across multiple biochemical pathways, based on a large number of reports. This review will enhance our understanding of nsLTP activity in planta, prompting further work and insights into the roles of this multifaceted protein family in plants.

The trihelix family genes have important functions in light-relevant and other developmental processes, but their roles in response to adverse environment are largely unclear. In this study, we identified a new gene, BnSIP1-1, which fell in the SIP1 (6b INTERACTING PROTEIN1) clade of the trihelix family with two trihelix DNA binding domains and a fourth amphipathic α-helix. BnSIP1-1 protein specifically targeted to the nucleus, and its expression can be induced by abscisic acid (ABA) and different stresses. Overexpression of BnSIP1-1 improved seed germination under osmotic pressure, salt and ABA treatments. Moreover, BnSIP1-1 decreased the susceptibility of transgenic seedlings to osmotic pressure and ABA treatments, whereas there was no difference under salt stress between the transgenic and wild-type seedlings. ABA level in the transgenic seedlings leaves was higher than those in the control plants under normal condition. Under exogenous ABA treatment and mannitol stress, the accumulation of ABA in the transgenic plants was higher than that in the control plants; while under salt stress, the difference of ABA content before treatment was gradually smaller with the prolongation of salt treatment time, then after 24 h of treatment the ABA level was similar in transgenic and wild-type plants. The transcription levels of several general stress marker genes (BnRD29A, BnERD15, and BnLEA1) were higher in the transgenic plants than the wild-type plants, whereas salt-responsive genes (BnSOS1, BnNHX1, and BnHKT) were not significantly different or even reduced compared with the wild-type plants, which indicated that BnSIP1-1 specifically exerted different regulatory mechanisms on the osmotic- and salt-response pathways. Overall, these findings suggested that BnSIP1-1 played roles in ABA synthesis and signaling, salt and osmotic stress response. To date, information about the involvement of the B. napus trihelix gene in abiotic response is scarce. Here, we firstly reported abiotic stress response and possible function mechanisms of a new trihelix gene in B. napus.

To understand the cross-talk and specificity of the early responses of plants to salt and drought, we performed physiological and proteome analyses of Brassica napus seedlings pretreated with 245 mM NaCl or 25% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 under identical osmotic pressure (-1.0 MPa). Significant decreases in water content and photosynthetic rate and excessive accumulation of compatible osmolytes and oxidative damage were observed in response to both stresses. Unexpectedly, the drought response was more severe than the salt response. We further identified 45 common differentially expressed proteins (DEPs), 143 salt-specific DEPs and 160 drought-specific DEPs by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) analysis. The proteome quantitative data were then confirmed by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The differences in the proteomic profiles between drought-treated and salt-treated seedlings exceeded the similarities in the early stress responses. Signal perception and transduction, transport and membrane trafficking, and photosynthesis-related proteins were enriched as part of the molecular cross-talk and specificity mechanism in the early responses to the two abiotic stresses. The Ca²⁺ signaling, G protein-related signaling, 14-3-3 signaling pathway and phosphorylation cascades were the common signal transduction pathways shared by both salt and drought stress responses; however, the proteins with executive functions varied. These results indicate functional specialization of family proteins in response to different stresses, i.e., CDPK21, TPR, and CTR1 specific to phosphorylation cascades under early salt stress, whereas STN7 and BSL were specific to phosphorylation cascades under early drought stress. Only the calcium-binding EF-hand family protein and ZKT were clearly identified as signaling proteins that acted as cross-talk nodes for salt and drought signaling pathways. Our study provides new clues and insights for developing strategies to improve the tolerance of crops to complex, multiple environmental stresses.