SoHSC70 positively regulates thermotolerance by alleviating cell membrane damage, reducing ROS accumulation, and improving activities of antioxidant enzymes.

High temperature is a major environmental factor affecting plant growth. Heat shock proteins (Hsps) are molecular chaperones that play important roles in improving plant thermotolerance during heat stress. Spinach (Spinacia oleracea) is very sensitive to high temperature; however, the specific function of Hsps in spinach is unclear. In this study, cytosolic heat shock 70 protein (SoHSC70), which was induced by heat stress, was cloned from spinach. Overexpressing SoHSC70 in spinach calli and Arabidopsis enhanced their thermotolerance. In contrast, spinach seedlings with silenced SoHSC70 by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) showed more sensitivity to heat stress. Further analysis revealed that overexpressing SoHSC70 altered relative electrical conductivity (REC), malondialdehyde (MDA) content, photosynthetic rate, reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT) after the heat treatment. Taken together, our results suggest that overexpressing SoHSC70 positively affects heat tolerance by reducing membrane damage and ROS accumulation and improving activities of antioxidant enzymes.