Isolation and characterization of the secondary wall-related SND1 gene in hawthorn

Secondary wall-associated NAC domain protein1 (SND1) is a key regulator directly regulating the expression levels of MYB46 and MYB83 in the regulation network for secondary wall synthesis, especially in plant fibres. In this study, a SND1 gene was isolated from hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida) and named as CpSND1 because it has a conservative N-terminal DNA-binding domain with AtSND1. Arabidopsis plants overexpressing CpSND1 had similar phenotypes as plants overexpressing AtSND1, including inhibited growth, upward-curling leaves, sepal dysplasia and sterility. In addition, overexpressing CpSND1 in Arabidopsis also induced the expression of downstream genes, including lignin, cellulose and xylan biosynthesis genes as well as MYB genes. Our results provided functional information of CpSND1 for future genetic engineering in hawthorn.