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AtERF15 is a positive regulator of ABA response

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Abstract

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The Arabidopsis AP2/ERF family transcription factor AtERF15 is nuclear-localized and positively regulates ABA and stress responses.

Abstract

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a major plant hormone that controls the expression of hundreds genes involved in various aspects of plant growth and development, such as seed development, germination, seedling growth and abiotic stress response. Several cis-elements mediating the ABA-regulated gene expression have been reported, and one of the regulatory elements is Coupling Element 1 (CE1). We previously isolated a group of AP2/ERF family proteins that bind CE1, but their functions are mostly unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that one of the CE1 binding factors (CEBFs), AtERF15, is involved in ABA response. To investigate the AtERF15 function, we generated its overexpression (OX) lines by expressing the AtERF15 coding region under the control of CaMV 35S promoter and analyzed their phenotypes. We found that the AtERF15 OX lines were hypersensitive to ABA at the germination stage. The ABA hypersensitivity was also observed in our root elongation assay of seedlings. Furthermore, the transgenic lines were hypersensitive to high salinity and high osmolarity at the seedling establishment stage, and the transgenic seedlings were drought-tolerant. We also determined the tissue-specific expression pattern and the subcellular localization of AtERF15. Our results indicate that it is highly expressed in roots and embryos and nuclear-localized. Collectively, our data suggest that AtERF15 is a positive regulator of ABA response.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

EYFP:

Enhanced yellow fluorescent protein

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by grants from the Mid-career Researcher Program through NRF Grant funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) (No. 2011-0015455 to S.Y.K.) and the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea (the Next Generation BioGreen 21 Program, Grant PJ008198 to S.Y.K.). The authors are grateful to the Kumho Life Science Laboratory of Chonnam National University for providing equipment and plant growth facilities.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Kumho Life Science Laboratory, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 500-757, South Korea

    Seul-bee Lee, Sun-ji Lee & Soo Young Kim

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  1. Seul-bee Lee
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  2. Sun-ji Lee
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  3. Soo Young Kim
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Correspondence to Soo Young Kim.

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Communicated by Jeong Sheop Shin.

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Lee, Sb., Lee, Sj. & Kim, S.Y. AtERF15 is a positive regulator of ABA response. Plant Cell Rep 34, 71–81 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-014-1688-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-014-1688-2

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