Characterization of a new dehydration responsive element binding factor in central arctic cowberry

  • Qing-Ju Wang
  • Kuan-Yong Xu
  • Zhao-Guo Tong
  • San-Hong Wang
  • Zhi-Hong Gao
  • Ji-Yu Zhang
  • Cheng-Wen Zong
  • Yu-Shan Qiao
  • Zhen Zhang
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The C-repeat binding factor/dehydration responsive element binding factor 1 (CBF/DREB1) is a critical regulator of the development of tolerance to abiotic stress in plants. Here we report the cloning of the homologous gene, VviDREB1, from a central arctic plant, the cowberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea L., using rapid amplification of cDNA ends and genome walking techniques. The cDNA and genomic DNA are 887 and 3790 bp long, respectively. Alignment and phylogenetic tree analysis suggested that VviDREB1 should be classified into the A-1 group of the DREB subfamily. The 1522-bp-long promoter contains putative cis-acting elements and transcription factor binding motifs, including elements predicted to respond to phytohormones, abiotic stress, and light. The deduced amino acid sequence of the VviDREB1 cDNA contains a predicted DNA-binding domain with a three-stranded anti-parallel β-sheet and an α-helix, similar to that of the Arabidopsis thaliana ethylene-responsive-element-binding factor AtERF1, suggesting that VviDREB1 might bind to the dehydration responsive and ethylene responsive element. The expression of VviDREB1 was mainly localized to the nuclei of onion epidermal cells. Importantly, VviDREB1 expression in the cowberry was up-regulated by cold, high-salt, and abscisic acid treatment. Our findings may provide a novel basis for further studies of the acclimation and tolerance of cowberry to abiotic stresses.

Keywords

Cowberry Homologous modeling Promoter element Quantitative Real-time PCR VviDREB1 

Abbreviations

ABA

Abscisic acid

AP2/ERF

APETALA2/ethylene-responsive-element-binding factor

CBF/DREB1

C-repeat binding factor/dehydration responsive element binding factor 1

Ct

Cycle threshold

DBD

DNA-binding domain

ICE

Inducer of CBF expression

ORF

Open reading frame

RACE

Rapid amplification of cDNA ends

TSS

Transcription start site

This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Quan-hong Yao, Biotechnology Research Institute of Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences for his kind provision of the vector Pyk2784-EGFP.

References

  1. Alkharouf NW, Dhanaraj AL, Naik D, Overall C, Matthews BF, Rowland LJ (2007) BBGD: an online database for blueberry genomic data. BMC Plant Biol 7:5CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  2. Allen MD, Yamasakil K, Ohme-Takagi M, Tatenol M, Suzuki M (1998) A novel mode of DNA recognition by a β-sheet revealed by the solution structure of the GCC-box binding domain in complex with DNA. EMBO J 17:5484–5496CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Baker SS, Wilhelm KS, Thomashow MF (1994) The 5′-region of Arabidopsis thaliana cor15a has cis-acting elements that confer cold-, drought- and ABA-regulated gene expression. Plant Mol Biol 24:701–713CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  4. Cai BH, Zhang JY, Gao ZH, Qu SC, Tong ZG, Mi L, Qiao YS, Zhang Z (2008) An improved method for isolation of total RNA from the leaves of Fragaria spp (in Chinese). Jiangsu J Agric Sci 24(6):875–877Google Scholar
  5. Chen M, Wang QY, Cheng XG, Xu ZS, Li LC, Ye XG, Xia LQ, Ma YZ (2007) GmDREB2, a soybean DRE-binding transcription factor, conferred drought and high-salt tolerance in transgenic plants. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 353:299–305CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Chinnusamy V, Ohta M, Kanrar S, Lee BH, Hong XH, Agarwal M, Zhu JK (2003) ICE1: a regulator of cold-induced transcriptome and freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis. Genes Dev 17:1043–1054CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Crosatti C, de Laureto PP, Bassi R, Cattivelli L (1999) The interaction between cold and light controls the expression of the cold-regulated gene cor14b and the accumulation of the corresponding protein. Plant Physiol 119:671–680CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  8. Fowler S, Thomashow MF (2002) Arabidopsis transcriptome profiling indicates that multiple regulatory pathways are activated during cold acclimation in addition to the CBF cold response pathway. Plant Cell 14:1675–1690CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Gilmour SJ, Zarka DG, Stockinger EJ, Salazar MP, Houghton JM, Thomashow MF (1998) Low temperature regulation of the Arabidopsis CBF family of AP2 transcriptional activators as an early step in cold-induced COR gene expression. Plant J 16:433–442CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Hao DY, Yamasaki K, Sarai A, Ohme-Takagi M (2002) Determinants in the sequence specific binding of two plant transcription factors, CBF1 and NtERF2, to the DRE and GCC motifs. Biochemistry 41:4202–4208CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  11. Jaglo KR, Kleff S, Amundsen KL, Zhang X, Haake V, Zhang JZ, Deits T, Thomashow MF (2001) Components of the Arabidopsis C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding factor cold-response pathway are conserved in Brassica napus and other plant species. Plant Physiol 127:910–917CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  12. Kim HJ, Kim YK, Park JY, Kim J (2002) Light signalling mediated by phytochrome plays an important role in cold-induced gene expression through the C-repeat/dehydration responsive element (C/DRE) in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J 29:693–704CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  13. Lin YH, Hwang SY, Hsu PY, Chiang YC, Huang CL, Wang CN, Lin TP (2008) Molecular population genetics and gene expression analysis of duplicated CBF genes of Arabidopsis thaliana. BMC Plant Biol 8:111CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  14. Liu JG, Zhang Z, Qin QL, Peng RH, Xiong AS, Chen JM, Xu F, Zhu H, Yao QH (2007) Isolated and characterization of a cDNA encoding ethylene-responsive element binding protein (EREBP)/AP2-type protein, RCBF2, in Oryza sativa L. Biotechnol Lett 29:165–173CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  15. Livak KJ, Schmittgen TD (2001) Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2−ΔΔCt method. Methods 25:402–408CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  16. Medina J, Bargues M, Terol J, Perez-Alonso M, Salinas J (1999) The Arabidopsis CBF gene family is composed of three genes encoding AP2 domain-containing proteins whose expression is regulated by low temperature but not by abscisic acid or dehydration. Plant Physiol 119:463–469CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  17. Murashige T, Skoog F (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Physiol Plant 15(3):473–497Google Scholar
  18. Rabbani MA, Abe H, Maruyama K, Khan MA, Katsura K, Ito Y, Yoshiwara K, Seki M, Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K (2003) Monitoring expression profiles of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genes under cold, drought and high-salinity stresses, and ABA application using both cDNA microarray and RNA gel blot analyses. Plant Physiol 133:1755–1767CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  19. Riechmann JL, Heard J, Martin G et al (2000) Arabidopsis transcription factors: genome-wide comparative analysis among eukaryotes. Science 290:2105–2110CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  20. Rowland LJ, Levi A (1994) RAPD-based genetic linkage map of blueberry derived from a cross between diploid species (Vaccinium darrowi and V. elliottii). Theor Appl Genet 87:863–868CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Ruelland E, Vaultier MN, Zachowski A, Hurry V (2009) Cold signalling and cold acclimation in plants. Adv Bot Res 49:35–150CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Sakuma Y, Liu Q, Dubouzet JG, Abe H, Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K (2002) 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 290:998–1009CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  23. Shan DP, Huang JG, Yang YT, Guo YH, Wu CA, Yang GD, Gao Z, Zheng CC (2007) Cotton GhDREB1 increases plant tolerance to low temperature and is negatively regulated by gibberellic acid. New Phytol 176:70–81CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  24. Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K (2000) Molecular responses to dehydration and low temperature: differences and cross-talk between two stress signaling pathways. Curr Opin Plant Biol 3:217–223PubMedGoogle Scholar
  25. Thomashow MF (1999) Plant cold acclimation: freezing tolerance genes and regulatory mechanisms. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50:571–599CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  26. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Shinozaki K (1993) Characterization of the expression of a desiccation-responsive rd29 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana and analysis of its promoter in transgenic plants. Mol Gen Genet 236:331–340CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  27. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Shinozaki K (1994) A novel cis-acting element in an Arabidopsis gene is involved in responsiveness to drought, low-temperature, or high-salt stress. Plant Cell 6:251–256CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Qing-Ju Wang
    • 1
    • 2
  • Kuan-Yong Xu
    • 1
  • Zhao-Guo Tong
    • 1
  • San-Hong Wang
    • 1
  • Zhi-Hong Gao
    • 1
  • Ji-Yu Zhang
    • 1
  • Cheng-Wen Zong
    • 1
    • 3
  • Yu-Shan Qiao
    • 1
  • Zhen Zhang
    • 1
  1. 1.College of HorticultureNanjing Agricultural UniversityNanjingChina
  2. 2.Liaoning Agricultural Vocation-Technical CollegeYingkouChina
  3. 3.College of AgricultureYanbian UniversityLongjingChina

Personalised recommendations