Abstract
We report the isolation by differential display of a novel tomato ethylene-responsive cDNA, designated ER5. RT-PCR analysis of ER5 expression revealed an early (15 min) and transient induction by ethylene in tomato fruit, leaves and roots. ER5 mRNA accumulated during 2 h of ethylene treatment and thereafter underwent a dramatic decline leading to undetectable expression after 5 h of treatment. The full-length cDNA clone of 748 bp was obtained and DNA sequence analysis showed strong homologies to members of the atypical hydrophobic group of the LEA protein family. The predicted amino acid sequence shows 67%, 64%, 64%, and 61% sequence identity with the tomato Lemmi9, soybean D95-4, cotton Lea14-A, and resurrection plant pcC27-45 gene products, respectively. As with the other members of this group, ER5 encodes a predominantly hydrophobic protein. Prolonged drought stress stimulates ER5 expression in leaves and roots, while ABA induction of this ethylene-responsive clone is confined to the leaves. The use of 1-MCP, an inhibitor of ethylene action, indicates that the drought induction of ER5 is ethylene-mediated in tomato roots. Finally, wounding stimulates ER5 mRNA accumulation in leaves and roots. Among the Lea gene family this novel clone is the first to display an ethylene-regulated expression.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abeles FB, Morgan PW, Salveit ME: Ethylene in Plant Biology, 2nd ed. Academic Press, San Diego, CA (1992).
Altschul SF, Gish W, Miller W, Myers EW, Lipman DJ: Basic local alignment search tool. J Mol Biol 215: 403–410 (1990).
Apelbaum A, Yang SF: Biosynthesis of stress ethylene induced by water deficit. Plant Physiol 68: 594–596 (1981).
Boller T, Kende H: Regulation of wound ethylene synthesis in plants. Nature 286: 259–260 (1980).
Broglie KE, Gaynor JJ, Broglie RM: Ethylene-regulated gene expression: molecular cloning of the genes encoding an endochitinase from Phaseolus vulgaris. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 83: 6820–6824 (1986).
Bray EA: Molecular response to water deficit. Plant Physiol 103: 1035–1040 (1993).
Chandler PM, Robertson M: Gene expression regulated by abscisic acid and its relation to stress tolerance. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 45: 113–141 (1994).
Dure L III: The LEA proteins of higher plants. In: Verma DPS (ed) Control of Plant Gene Expression, pp. 325–335. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (1993).
Fluhr R, Mattoo AK: Ethylene-Biosynthesis and perception. Crit Rev Plant Sci 15: 479–523 (1996).
Galau GA, Wang HY-C, Hughes DW: Cotton Lea5 and Lea14 encode atypical late embryogenesis-abundant proteins. Plant Physiol 101: 695–696 (1993).
Godoy GA, Pardo LM, Pintor-Toro JA: A tomato cDNA inducible by salt stress and abscisic acid: nucleotide sequence and expression pattern. Plant Mol Biol 15: 695–705 (1990).
Hamilton AJ, Lycett GW, Grierson D: Antisense gene that inhibits synthesis of the hormone ethylene in transgenic plants. Nature 346: 284–287 (1990).
Henstrand JM, Handa AK: Effect of ethylene action inhibitors upon wound-induced gene expression in tomato pericarp. Plant Physiol 91: 157–162 (1989).
Hoffman NE, Ko K, Milkowski D, Pichersky E: Isolation and characterization of tomato cDNA and genomic clones encoding the ubiquitin gene ubi3. Plant Mol Biol 17: 1189–1201 (1991).
Hughes DW, Galau GA: Developmental and environmental induction of Lea and Lea A mRNAs and the postabscission program during embryo culture. Plant Cell 3: 605–618 (1991).
Ingram J, Bartels D: The molecular basis of dehydration tolerance in plants. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 47: 377–403 (1996).
Kyte J, Doolittle RF: A simple method for displaying the hydro-pathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol 157: 105–132 (1982).
Lasserre E, Bouquin T, Hernandez JA, Bull J, Pech J-C, Balague C: Structure and expression of three genes encoding ACC oxidase homologs from melon (Cucumis melo L.). Mol Gen Genet 251: 81–90 (1996).
Liang P, Pardee AB: Differential display of eukaryotic messenger RNA by means of the polymerase chain reaction. Science 257: 967–971 (1992).
Liang P, Averboukh L, Pardee AB: Distribution and cloning of eukaryotic mRNAs by means of differential display: refinements and optimization. Nucl Acids Res 21: 3269–3275 (1993).
Lincoln JE, Cordes S, Read E, Fisher RL: Regulation of gene expression by ethylene during Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) fruit development. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA 84: 2793–2797 (1987).
Lincoln JE, Campbell AD, Oetiker J, Rottman WH, Oeller PW, Shen NF, Theologis A: LE-ACS4: a fruit ripening and wound-induced 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase gene of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). J Biol Chem 268: 19422–19430 (1993).
Maitra N, Cushman JC: Isolation and characterization of drought-induced soybean cDNA encoding a D95 family late embryogenesis-abundant protein. Plant Physiol 106: 805–806 (1994).
Pena-Cortés H, Sanchez-Serano JJ, Mertens R, Willmitzer L, Prat S: Abscisic acid is involved in the wound-induced expression of the proteinase inhibitor II gene in potato and tomato. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86: 9851–9855 (1989).
Pena-Cortés H, Willmitzer L: The role of hormones in gene activation in response to wounding. In: Davies PJ (ed) Plant Hormones: Physiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology, pp. 395–414. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, Netherlands (1995).
Piatkowski D, Schneider K, Salamini F, Bartels D: Characterization of five abscisic acid-responsive cDNA clones isolated from dessication-tolerant plant Craterostigma plantagineum and their relationship to other water-stress genes. Plant Physiol 94: 1682–1688 (1990).
Sisler EC, Serek M, Dupille E: Comparison of cyclopropene, 1-methylcyclopropene, and 3,3-dimethylcyclopropene as ethylene antagonists in plants. Plant Growth Regul 17: 1–6 (1995).
Skriver K, Mundy J: Gene expression in response to abscisic acid and osmotic stress. Plant Cell 2: 503–512 (1991).
Van der eycken W, de Almeida Engler J, Inze D, Van Montagu M, Gheysen G: A molecular study of root-knot nematode-induced feeding sites. Plant J 9: 45–54 (1996).
Zarembinski TI, Theologis A: Ethylene biosynthesis and action: a case of conservation. Plant Mol Biol 26: 1579–1597 (1994).
Zegzouti H, Marty C, Jones B, Bouqin T, Latché A, Pech J-C, Bouzayen M: Improved screening of cDNAs generated by mRNA differential display enables the selection of true positives and the isolation of weakly expressed messages. Plant Mol Biol Reporter 15(3): 236–245 (1997)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zegzouti, H., Jones, B., Marty, C. et al. Er5, a tomato cDNA encoding an ethylene-responsive LEA-like protein: characterization and expression in response to drought, ABA and wounding. Plant Mol Biol 35, 847–854 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005860302313
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005860302313