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Structural and expression analyses of three PmCBFs from Prunus mume

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

C-repeat binding factor (CBF), also called the dehydration-responsive element binding factor 1 (DREB1), can be induced by low-temperature (LT), and plays an important role in abiotic stress tolerance in higher plants. In present study, two new homologous genes of CBF from Prunus mume (PmCBFb and PmCBFc) have been identified and characterized. The complete coding sequences of PmCBFb and PmCBFc were 714 and 723 bp, respectively. They encoded putative proteins of 237 and 240 amino acids. Neither of them had introns. Genome PCR sequencing showed that PmCBFb was arranged in tandem with PmCBFa (another CBF/DREB1 homolog in P. mume) within a region of nearly 4 kb. Promoter prediction analyses indicated that multiple types of cis-elements related to abiotic stress and irradiance existed in the putative promoter region of PmCBFb. LT treatment of seedlings showed that the expression of PmCBF genes were induced by 2 °C within 30 min, and their expression reached a peak after 8–12 h. In addition, PmCBFa and PmCBFb appeared more sensitive to LT than PmCBFc. However, the exact roles of PmCBF genes in plant cold tolerance need to be further investigated.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

AP2/ERF:

APETALA2/ethylene-responsive factor

CBF:

C-repeat binding factor

COR:

cold-regulated

DREB1:

dehydration-responsive element binding factor 1

EF1α:

eukaryotic translational elongation factor 1α

GA:

gibberellins

RT-PCR:

real-time polymerase chain reaction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, P.R. China

    C. Guo, J. Q. Zhang, T. Peng, M. Z. Bao & J. W. Zhang

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  1. C. Guo
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  2. J. Q. Zhang
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  3. T. Peng
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  4. M. Z. Bao
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  5. J. W. Zhang
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Correspondence to J. W. Zhang.

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Acknowledgements: This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 31070624) and the National 863 Project of China (No. 2011AA100207). C. Guo and J.Q. Zhang contributed equally to this paper.

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Guo, C., Zhang, J.Q., Peng, T. et al. Structural and expression analyses of three PmCBFs from Prunus mume . Biol Plant 58, 247–255 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0393-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-014-0393-x

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