Abstract
Transcription factors play vital roles in stress signal transduction and gene expression modulation. The sequence analysis shows that MdCBF1 from Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Fuji contained an AP2 core domain of 56 amino acids. By comparison of deduced amino acid sequences of CBF related proteins, we deduced that MdCBF1 is a CBF transcription factor gene which belongs to AP2/EREBP family, DREB-A1 subfamily. Further, we reported that transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants expressing the MdCBF1 gene exhibited stronger growth than wild type plants under freezing stress. The analysis of RT-PCR for stress-responsive genes implied that MdCBF1 over-expressing plants had a higher expression of COR15a, RD29A, and RD29B genes than wild type plants. Collectively, our results indicate that MdCBF1 might play an important role in the response of transgenic Arabidopsis plants to freezing stress.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Abbreviations
- ABA:
-
abscisic acid
- AP2:
-
apetala2
- CBF:
-
C-repeat binding factor
- CBF/DREB:
-
C-repeat binding factor/dehydration responsive element binding
- DRE/CRT:
-
dehydration responsive element/C-repeat responsive element
- EDTA:
-
ethylenediaminatetraacetic acid
- ERF:
-
ethylene responsive factor
- GM:
-
germination medium
- GUS:
-
β-glucuronidase
- LEA:
-
late embryogenesis-abundant
- MDA:
-
malondialdehyde
- NCBI:
-
National center for biotechnology information
- RAV:
-
related to ABI3/VP1
- REC:
-
relative electrical conductivity
- TBARS:
-
thiobarbituric acid reactive substances
References
Alonso, J.M., Stepanova, A.N., Leisse, T.J., Kim, C.J., Chen, H., Shinn, P., Stevenson, D.K., Zimmerman, J., Barajas, P., Cheuk, R., Gadrinab, C., Heller, C., Jeske, A., Koesema, E., Meyers, C.C., Parker, H., Prednis, L., Ansari, Y., Choy, N., Deen, H., Geralt, M., Hazari, N., Hom, E., Karnes, M., Mulholland, C., Ndubaku, R., Schmidt, I., Guzman, P., Aguilar-Henonin, L., Schmid, M., Weigel, D., Carter, D.E., Marchand, T., Risseeuw, E., Brogden, D., Zeko, A., Crosby, W.L., Berry, C.C., Ecker, J.R.: Genome-wide insertional mutagenesis of Arabidopsis thaliana. — Science 301: 653–657, 2003.
Bates, L.S.W.R., Teare, I.D.: Rapid determination of free proline in water-stress studies. — Plant Soil 39: 205–207, 1973.
Benedict, C., Skinner, J.S., Meng, R., Chang, Y., Bhalerao, R., Huner, N.P., Finn, C.E., Chen, T.H., Hurry, V.: The CBF1-dependent low temperature signalling pathway, regulon and increase in freeze tolerance are conserved in Populus spp. — Plant Cell Environ. 29: 1259–1272, 2006.
Boutilier, K., Offringa, R., Sharma, V.K., Kieft, H., Ouellet, T., Zhang, L., Hattori, J., Liu, C.M., Van Lammeren, A.A., Miki, B.L., Custers, J.B., Van Lookeren Campagne, M.M.: Ectopic expression of BABY BOOM triggers a conversion from vegetative to embryonic growth. — Plant Cell 14: 1737–1749, 2002.
El Kayal, W., Navarro, M., Marque, G., Keller, G., Marque, C., Teulieres, C.: Expression profile of CBF-like transcriptional factor genes from Eucalyptus in response to cold. — J. exp. Bot. 57: 2455–2469, 2006.
Elliott, R.C., Betzner, A.S., Huttner, E., Oakes, M.P., Tucker, W.Q., Gerentes, D., Perez, P., Smith, D.R.: AINTEGUMENTA, an APETALA2-like gene of Arabidopsis with pleiotropic roles in ovule development and floral organ growth. — Plant Cell 8: 155–168, 1996.
Hao, D., Ohme-Takagi, M., Sarai, A.: Unique mode of GCC box recognition by the DNA-binding domain of ethyleneresponsive element-binding factor (ERF domain) in plant. — J. biol. Chem. 273: 26857–26861, 1998.
Havaux, M., Lutz, C., Grimm, B.: Chloroplast membrane photostability in chlP transgenic tobacco plants deficient in tocopherols. — Plant Physiol. 132: 300–310, 2003.
Hellens, R.P., Allan, A.C., Friel, E.N., Bolitho, K., Grafton, K., Templeton, M.D., Karunairetnam, S., Gleave, A.P., Laing, W.A.: Transient expression vectors for functional genomics, quantification of promoter activity and RNA silencing in plants. — Plant Methods 1: 13, 2005.
Hu, Y.X., Wang, Y.X., Liu, X.F., Li. J.Y.: Arabidopsis RAV1 is down-regulated by brassinosteroid and may act as a negative regulator during plant development. — Cell Res. 14: 8–15, 2004.
Jakab, G., Ton, J., Flors, V., Zimmerli, L., Metraux, J.P., Mauch-Mani, B.: Enhancing Arabidopsis salt and drought stress tolerance by chemical priming for its abscisic acid responses. — Plant Physiol. 139: 267–274, 2005.
Kishor, P., Hong, Z., Miao, G.H., Hu, C., Verma, D.: Overexpression of Δ-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase increases proline production and confers osmotolerance in transgenic Plants. — Plant Physiol. 108: 1387–1394, 1995.
Kitashiba, H., Ishizaka, T., Isuzugawa, K., Nishimura, K., Suzuki, T.: Expression of a sweet cherry DREB1/CBF ortholog in Arabidopsis confers salt and freezing tolerance. — J. Plant Physiol. 161: 1171–1176, 2004.
Lee, J.H., Hong, J.P., Oh, S.K., Lee, S., Choi, D., Kim, W.T.: The ethylene-responsive factor like protein 1 (CaERFLP1) of hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) interacts in vitro with both GCC and DRE/CRT sequences with different binding affinities: possible biological roles of CaERFLP1 in response to pathogen infection and high salinity conditions in transgenic tobacco plants. — Plant mol. Biol. 55: 61–81, 2004.
Livak, K.J., Schmittgen, T.D.: Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2(-delta delta C(T)) method. — Methods 25: 402–408, 2001.
Navarro, M., Marque, G., Ayax, C., Keller, G., Borges, J.P., Marque, C., Teulieres, C.: Complementary regulation of four Eucalyptus CBF genes under various cold conditions. — J. exp. Bot. 60: 2713–2724, 2009.
Onate-Sanchez, L., Singh, K.B.: Identification of Arabidopsis ethylene-responsive element binding factors with distinct induction kinetics after pathogen infection. — Plant Physiol. 128: 1313–1322, 2002.
Peng, X.J., Ma, X.Y., Fan, W.H., Su, M, Cheng, L.Q., Alam, I., Lee, B.H., Qi, D.M., Shen, S.H., Liu, G.S., Shen, S.H.: Improved drought and salt tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana by transgenic expression of a novel DREB gene from Leymus chinensis. — Plant Cell Rep. 30: 1493–1502, 2011.
Sakuma, Y., Liu, Q., Dubouzet, J.G., Abe, H., Shinozaki, K., Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K.: DNA-binding specificity of the ERF/AP2 domain of Arabidopsis DREBs, transcription factors involved in dehydration- and cold-inducible gene expression. — Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 290: 998–1009, 2002.
Sohn, K.H., Lee, S.C., Jung, H.W., Hong, J.K., Hwang, B.K.: Expression and functional roles of the pepper pathogeninduced transcription factor RAV1 in bacterial disease resistance, and drought and salt stress tolerance. — Plant mol. Biol. 61: 897–915, 2006.
Tang, W., Charles, T.M., Newton, R.J.: Overexpression of the pepper transcription factor CaPF1 in transgenic Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana Mill.) confers multiple stress tolerance and enhances organ growth. — Plant mol. Biol. 59: 603–617, 2005.
Thomashow, M.F.: Plant cold acclimation: freezing tolerance genes and regulatory mechanisms. — Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant mol. Biol. 50: 571–599, 1999.
Tuteja, N.: Abscisic acid and abiotic stress signaling. — Plant Signal. Behav. 2: 135–138, 2007
Wanner, L. A., Junttila, O.: Cold-induced freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. — Plant Physiol. 120: 391–400, 1999.
Welling, A., Palva, E.T.: Involvement of CBF transcription factors in winter hardiness in birch. — Plant Physiol. 147: 1199–1211, 2008.
Wisniewski, M., Norelli, J., Bassett, C., Artlip, T., Macarisin, D.: Ectopic expression of a novel peach (Prunus persica) CBF transcription factor in apple (Malus × domestica) results in short-day induced dormancy and increased cold hardiness. — Planta 233: 971–983, 2011.
Xiao, H., Siddiqua, M., Braybrook, S., Nassuth, A.: Three grape CBF/DREB1 genes respond to low temperature, drought and abscisic acid. — Plant Cell Environ. 29: 1410–1421, 2006.
Xiong, L., Schumaker, K.S., Zhu, J.K.: Cell signaling during cold, drought, and salt stress. — Plant Cell 14(Suppl.): S165–S183, 2002.
Xu, Z.S., Xia, L.Q., Chen, M., Cheng, X.G., Zhang, R.Y., Li, L.C., Zhao, Y.X., Lu, Y., Ni, Z.Y., Liu, L., Qiu, Z.G., Ma, Y.Z.: Isolation and molecular characterization of the Triticum aestivum L. ethylene-responsive factor 1 (TaERF1) that increases multiple stress tolerance. — Plant mol. Biol. 65: 719–732, 2007.
Xue, Y., Peng, R., Xiong, A., Li, X., Zha, D., Yao, Q.: Yeast heat-shock protein gene HSP26 enhances freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. — J. Plant Physiol. 166: 844–850, 2009.
Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., Shinozaki, K.: A novel cis-acting element in an Arabidopsis gene is involved in responsiveness to drought, low-temperature, or high-salt stress. — Plant Cell 6: 251–264, 1994.
Yang, W., Liu, X.D., Chi, X.J., Wu, C.A., Li, Y.Z., Song, L.L., Liu, X.M., Wang, Y.F., Wang, F.W., Zhang, C., Liu, Y., Zong, J.M., Li, H..: Dwarf apple MbDREB1 enhances plant tolerance to low temperature, drought, and salt stress via both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways. — Planta 233: 219–229, 2011.
Zhang, G., Chen, M., Li, L., Xu, Z., Chen, X., Guo, J., Ma, Y.: Overexpression of the soybean GmERF3 gene, an AP2/ERF type transcription factor for increased tolerances to salt, drought, and diseases in transgenic tobacco. — J. exp. Bot. 60: 3781–3796, 2009.
Zhang, X., Henriques, R., Lin, S.S., Niu, Q.W., Chua, N.H.: Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana using the floral dip method. — Nat. Protoc. 1: 641–646, 2006.
Zhu, S.Y., Yu, X.C., Wang, X.J., Zhao, R., Li, Y., Fan, R.C., Shang, Y., Du, S.Y., Wang, X.F., Wu, F.Q., Xu, Y.H., Zhang, X.Y., Zhang, D.P.: Two calcium-dependent protein kinases, CPK4 and CPK11, regulate abscisic acid signal transduction in Arabidopsis. — Plant Cell 19: 3019–3036, 2007.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Acknowledgments: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30800602), and was sponsored by the Shanghai PuJiang Program(11PJ1408500) and PaoGao Program. The research was also supported by the Key Project Fund of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of Agriculture (No. 2011-1-8).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xue, Y., Wang, Y.Y., Peng, R.H. et al. Transcription factor MdCBF1 gene increases freezing stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana . Biol Plant 58, 499–506 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0432-7
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0432-7