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Involvement of GIGANTEA gene in the regulation of the cold stress response in Arabidopsis

Plant Cell Reports volume 24, pages 683–690 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The Arabidopsis GIGANTEA (GI) gene has been shown to regulate several developmental processes, including photoperiod-mediated flowering, phytochrome B signaling, circadian clock, and carbohydrate metabolism. However, little is known about the role of GI gene in mediating the cold stress response. Here, we show that GI gene is involved in mediating the cold stress response. GI gene was induced by cold stress, but not by salt, mannitol, and abscisic acid. Moreover, gi-3 plants showed an increased sensitivity to freezing stress. However, no significant differences were detected in the transcript levels of CBF genes CBF1, CBF2, and CBF3 as well as their targeted genes RD29A, COR15A, KIN1, and KIN2 between wild-type and gi-3 plants in response to cold stress. These results suggest that GI gene positively regulates freezing tolerance via a CBF-independent pathway. In addition, intermittent cold treatments had a greater effect on flowering time in gi-3 plants than that in wild-type plants, suggesting that there may be a link between flowering time and cold stress response through GI in Arabidopsis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Peng Wei and Yangqiu Song for their technical assistances. This work was supported by a grant from Hefei University of Technology to SQC.

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  1. School of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui, 230009,, People's Republic of China

    Shuqing Cao, Ming Ye & Shaotong Jiang

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  1. Shuqing Cao
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  2. Ming Ye
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  3. Shaotong Jiang
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Correspondence to Shuqing Cao.

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Communicated by A. Atanassov

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Cao, S., Ye, M. & Jiang, S. Involvement of GIGANTEA gene in the regulation of the cold stress response in Arabidopsis . Plant Cell Rep 24, 683–690 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-005-0061-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-005-0061-x

Keywords

  • CBF-independent pathway
  • Cold stress response
  • Flowering time
  • GIGANTEA gene