Abstract
Cold stress, which causes dehydration damage to the plant cell, is one of the most common abiotic stresses that adversely affect plant growth and crop productivity. To improve its cold-tolerance, plants often enhance expression of some cold-related genes. In this study, a cold-regulated gene encoding 25 KDa of protein was isolated from Brassica napus cDNA library using a macroarray analysis, and is consequently designated as BnCOR25. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that BnCOR25 was expressed at high levels in hypocotyls, cotyledons, stems, and flowers, but its mRNA was found at low levels in roots and leaves. Northern blot analysis revealed that BnCOR25 transcripts were significantly induced by cold and osmotic stress treatment. The data also showed that BnCOR25 gene expression is mediated by ABA-dependent pathway. Overexpression of BnCOR25 in yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe) significantly enhanced the cell survival probability under cold stress, and overexpression of BnCOR25 in Arabidopsis enhances plant tolerance to cold stress. These results suggested that the BnCOR25 gene may play an important role in conferring freezing/cold tolerance in plants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Artus NN, Uemura M, Steponkus PL, Gilmour SJ, Lin C, Thomashow MF (1996) Constitutive expression of the cold regulated Arabidopsis thaliana COR15a gene affects both chloroplast and protoplast freezing tolerance. PNAS 93:13404–13409
Cattivelli L, Bartels D (1990) Molecular cloning and characterization of cold-regulated genes in barley. Plant Physiol 93:1504–1510
Chen L, Ren F, Zhong H, Jiang WM, Li XB (2010) Identification and expression analysis of genes induced by high-salinity and drought stresses in Brassica napus. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin 42:154–164
Chinnusamy V, Zhu JH, Zhu JK (2007) Cold stress regulation of gene expression in plants. Trends Plant Sci 12:444–451
Clough SJ, Bent AF (1998) Floral dip: a simplified method for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant J 16:735–743
Crosatti C, Polverino de Laureto P, Bassi R, Cattivelli L (1999) The interaction between cold and light controls the expression of the cold-regulated barley gene cor14b and the accumulation of the corresponding protein. Plant Physiol 119:671–680
Crosatti C, Marè C, Mazzucotelli E, Belloni S, Barilli S, Bassi R, Dubcovskyi J, Galiba G, Stanca AM, Cattivelli L (2003) Genetic analysis of the expression of the cold regulated gene cor14b: a way toward the identification of components of the cold response signal transduction in Triticeae. Can J Bot 81:1162–1167
Fusaro A, Mangeon A, Magrani-Junqueira R, Benício-Rocha CA, Cardoso-Coutinho T, Margis R, Sachetto-Martins G (2001) Classification, expression pattern and comparative analysis of sugarcane expressed sequences tags (ESTs) encoding glycine-rich proteins (GRPs). Genet Mol Biol 24:263–273
Gilmour SJ, Artus NN, Thomashow MF (1992) cDNA sequence analysis and expression of two cold-regulated genes of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol Biol 18:13–21
Giorni E, Crosatti C, Baldi P, Grossi M, Marè C, Stanca AM, Cattivelli L (1999) Cold-regulated gene expression during winter in frost tolerant and frost susceptible barley cultivars grown under field conditions. Euphytica 106:149–157
Lee JH, Van Montagu M, Verbruggen N (1999) A highly conserved kinase is an essential component for stress tolerance in yeast and plant cells. PNAS 96:5873–5877
Li XB, Cai L, Cheng NH, Liu JW (2002) Molecular characterization of the cotton GhTUB1 gene that is preferentially expressed in fiber. Plant Physiol 130:666–674
Li XB, Fan XP, Wang XL, Cai L, Yang WC (2005) The cotton ACTIN1 gene is functionally expressed in fibers and participates in fiber elongation. Plant Cell 17:859–875
Li L, Wang XL, Huang GH, Li XB (2007) Molecular characterization of cotton GhTUA9 gene specifically expressed in fibre and involved in cell elongation. J Exp Bot 58:3227–3238
Li DD, Tai FJ, Zhang ZT, Li Y, Zheng Y, Wu YF, Li XB (2009) A cotton gene encodes a tonoplast aquaporin that is involved in cell tolerance to cold stress. Gene 438:26–32
Li XW, Feng ZG, Yang HM, Zhu XP, Liu J, Yuan HY (2010) A novel cold-regulated gene from Camellia sinensis, CsCOR1, enhances salt- and dehydration-tolerance in tobacco. Biochem Bioph Res Co 394:354–359
Lin C, Thomashow MF (1992) DNA sequence analysis of a complementary DNA for cold-regulated Arabidopsis COR15 and characterization of the COR15 polypeptide. Plant Physiol 115:171–180
NDong C, Danyluk J, Wilson KE, Pocock T, Huner NPA, Sarhan F (2002) Cold-regulated cereal chloroplast late embryogenesis abundant-like proteins. Molecular characterization and functional analyses. Plant Physiol 129:1368–1381
Rapacz M, Wolanin B, Hura K, Tyrka M (2008) The effects of cold acclimation on photosynthetic apparatus and the expression of COR14b in four genotypes of Barley (Hordeum vulgare) contrasting in their tolerance to freezing and high-light treatment in cold conditions. Ann Bot 101:689–699
Sangwan V, Foulds I, Singh J, Dhindsa RS (2001) Cold-activation of Brassica napus BN115 promoter is mediated by structural changes in membranes and cytoskeleton, and requires Ca2+ influx. Plant J 27:1–12
Savitch LV, Allard G, Seki M, Robert LS, Tinker NA, Huner NPA, Shinozaki K, Singh J (2005) The effect of overexpression of two Brassica CBF/DREB1-like transcription factors on photosynthetic capacity and freezing tolerance in Brassica napus. Plant Cell Physiol 46:1525–1539
Sharma P, Sharma N, Deswal R (2005) The molecular biology of the low temperature response in plants. BioEssays 27:1048–1059
Shimamura C, Ohno R, Nakamura C, Takumi S (2006) Improvement of freezing tolerance in tobacco plants expressing a cold-responsive and chloroplast-targeting protein WCOR15 of wheat. J Plant Physiol 163:213–219
Shinozaki K, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K (1996) Molecular response to drought and cold stress. Curr Opin Biotechnol 7:161–167
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 3:217–223
Steponkus PL (1984) Role of the plasma membrane in freezing injury and cold acclimation. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 35:543–584
Stockinger EJ, Gilmour SJ, Thomashow MF (1997) Arabidopsis thaliana CBF1 encodes an AP2 domain-containing transcription activator that binds to the C-repeat/DRE, a cis-acting DNA regulatory element that stimulates transcription in response to low temperature and water deficit. PNAS 94:1035–1040
Thomashow MF (1999) Plant cold acclimation: freezing tolerance genes and regulatory mechanisms. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50:571–599
White TC, Simmonds D, Donaldson P, Singh J (1994) Regulation of BN115, a low-temperature-responsive gene from winter Brassica napus. Plant Physiol 106:917–928
Yakovlev IA, Asante DK, Fossdal CG, Partanen J, Junttila O, Johnsen O (2008) Dehydrins expression related to timing of bud burst in Norway spruce. Planta 228:459–472
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 6:251–264
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Project of Ministry of Education, China (Grant No. 20070511007), and the Chenguang Project of Wuhan Municipality (Grant No. 200950431185).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by K. Chong.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, L., Zhong, H., Ren, F. et al. A novel cold-regulated gene, COR25, of Brassica napus is involved in plant response and tolerance to cold stress. Plant Cell Rep 30, 463–471 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0952-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-010-0952-3