As one of the most important food and energy crops in the world, cassava (Manihot esculenta) is high tolerant to drought and poor nutritional environment. However, the key regulators of drought response in cassava remain elusive. In this study, we found that MeWHYs could physically interact with MeCIPK23 in vivo and in vitro, as revealed by yeast two-hybrid, biomolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC), luciferase (LUC) complementation, and pull-down assays. Moreover, we highlighed their roles in regulating drought response in cassava. Under drought stress conditions, the expression of MeCIPK23 and MeWHYs are up-regulated. In addition, MeCIPK23 interacts with MeWHYs, which directly bind to the PB element in the promoter of MeNCED1 and activate its transcription. Then the up-regulated expression of MeNCED1 results in elevated ABA biosynthesis and enhanced drought stress response. Therefore, this study provides new insight into the drought-resistance mechanism in cassava and potential strategies for further crop breeding and germplasm enhancement.? 2019 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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