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A seed-specific AP2-domain transcription factor from soybean plays a certain role in regulation of seed germination

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Abstract

Plant seed development and germination are under strict temporal and spatial regulation, and transcription factors play important roles in this regulation. In the present study we identified an EST expressed specifically in the developing soybean seeds. The full length of the gene was obtained through further RACE analysis and the gene was named GmSGR. Sequence analysis revealed that this gene belonged to the AP2/ERF transcription factor family. Its AP2 domain had the highest similarity with that of the A-3 member AtABI4 of DREB subgroup in the AP2/ERF family in Arabidopsis. GmSGR did not exhibit transcriptional activation activity in the yeast assay system. GmSGR was overexpressed in Arabidopsis and the germination rates of the transgenic seeds were significantly higher than that of the wild type seeds under higher concentrations of ABA and glucose respectively. However, the germination rates of the transgenic seeds were lower than that of control under salt stress. The expression of AtEm6 and AtRD29B was higher in the seedlings of the transgenic plants than that in the wild-type seedlings. These results suggest that GmSGR may confer reduced ABA sensitivity and enhanced salt sensitivity to the transgenic seeds through regulating the expression of AtEm6 and AtRD29B genes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    ChunMei Wang, HuiWen Wang, JinSong Zhang & ShouYi Chen

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  1. ChunMei Wang
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  2. HuiWen Wang
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Correspondence to ShouYi Chen.

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30490254) and the Major Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2004CB117200 and 2002CB111303)

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Wang, C., Wang, H., Zhang, J. et al. A seed-specific AP2-domain transcription factor from soybean plays a certain role in regulation of seed germination. SCI CHINA SER C 51, 336–345 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-008-0044-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-008-0044-6

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