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Transcription factors in plants and ABA dependent and independent abiotic stress signalling

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  • Published:
Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Plants face variable environmental stresses that negatively affect plant growth and productivity. The multiplicity of responses is an important aspect of the complexity of stress signalling. Abscisic acid (ABA) is a broad-spectrum phytohormone involved not only in regulating stomatal opening, growth and development but also in coordinating various stress signal transduction pathways in plants during abiotic stresses. The both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent signal transduction pathways from stress signal perception to gene expression involve different transcription factors such as DREB, MYC/MYB, AREB/ABF, NAM, ATAF1,2, CUC and their corresponding cis-acting elements DRE, MYCRS/MYBRS, ABRE, NACRS. Genetic analysis of ABA mutants has given insight that ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways for osmotic stress and cold stress interact and converge. This review focuses on ABA-dependent and ABA-independent transcriptional components and cascades, their specificity and crosstalk in stress gene regulation.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

abscisic acid

ABF:

ABRE binding factor

AP2:

apetala 2

AREBs:

ABA responsive element binding protein

ATAF1,2:

Arabidopsis transcription factor 1 or 2 like family

CUC:

cup-shaped cotyledon

DREB2:

drought responsive element binding protein 2

ERF:

ethylene responsive factor

hos5 :

high expression of osmotic responsive genes

NAM:

no apical meristem

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Acknowledgement

The financial assistance from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, India is duly acknowledged.

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  1. Discipline of Marine Biotechnology and Ecology, Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Bhavnagar, 364002, Gujarat, India

    P. K. Agarwal & B. Jha

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Agarwal, P.K., Jha, B. Transcription factors in plants and ABA dependent and independent abiotic stress signalling. Biol Plant 54, 201–212 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-010-0038-7

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