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Overexpression of a maize dehydrin gene, ZmDHN2b, in tobacco enhances tolerance to low temperature

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Abstract

Dehydrins, a subfamily of group 2 LEA proteins, are intrinsically unstructured plant proteins that accumulate in the late stages of seed development and in vegetative tissues subjected to water deficit, salinity, low temperature, or abscisic acid treatment. In this study, we isolated and characterized ZmDHN2b, a maize dehydrin gene. The genomic organization of the ZmDHN2b gene and its expression in maize seedlings were analyzed. To investigate the function of ZmDHN2b, we generated transgenic tobacco plants constitutively overexpressing ZmDHN2b. Ectopic expression of ZmDHN2b in tobacco accelerated seed germination and seedling growth at 15°C. Furthermore, ZmDHN2b-overexpressing lines had lower levels of cold-induced malondialdehyde and less electrolyte leakage than wild-type tobacco at 4°C. These results demonstrated that ZmDHN2b was involved in plant responses to low temperature.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

DHN:

Dehydrin

GA:

Gibberellic acid

H2O2 :

Hydrogen peroxide

JA:

Jasmonic acid

LEA:

Late embryogenesis abundant

ORF:

Open reading frame

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

pI:

Isoelectric point

SA:

Salicylic acid

SDS-PAGE:

Sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

TBA:

Thiobarbituric acid

TCA:

Trichloroacetic acid

WT:

Wild type

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31071337 and 30871457) and the State Key Basic Research and Development Plan of China (No. 2009CB118500) and also was supported by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (No. IRT0635).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, 61 DaiZong Street, 271018, Tai’an, Shandong, China

    Xin Xing, Yukun Liu, Xiangpei Kong, Yang Liu & Dequan Li

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  1. Xin Xing
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  2. Yukun Liu
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  3. Xiangpei Kong
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  4. Yang Liu
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  5. Dequan Li
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Correspondence to Dequan Li.

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Xing, X., Liu, Y., Kong, X. et al. Overexpression of a maize dehydrin gene, ZmDHN2b, in tobacco enhances tolerance to low temperature. Plant Growth Regul 65, 109–118 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-011-9580-3

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