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Arabidopsis SAP5 functions as a positive regulator of stress responses and exhibits E3 ubiquitin ligase activity

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Abstract

AtSAP5, one of approximately 14 members of the Stress Associated Protein gene family in Arabidopsis, was identified by its expression in response to salinity, osmotic, drought and cold stress. AtSAP5 shows strong homology to OSISAP1, an A20/AN1-type zinc finger protein implicated in stress tolerance in rice. To evaluate the function of AtSAP5 in the regulation of abiotic stress responses, transgenic Arabidopsis plants that over-express AtSAP5 (35S::AtSAP5) were characterized, along with wild-type and T-DNA knock-down plants. Plants that over-express AtSAP5 showed increased tolerance to environmental challenges including salt stress, osmotic stress and water deficit. Comparison of gene expression patterns between 35S::AtSAP5 transgenic plants and wild-type plants under normal conditions and water deficit stress indicated that over-expression of AtSAP5 correlates with up-regulation of drought stress responsive gene expression. Analysis of transgenic plants that express GFP-AtSAP5 showed that it is localized primarily in nuclei of root cells and recombinant AtSAP5 has E3 ubiquitin ligase activity in vitro. These results indicate that AtSAP5 has E3 ligase activity and acts as a positive regulator of stress responses in Arabidopsis.

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Abbreviations

SAP:

Stress Associated Protein

ABA:

Abscisic Acid

RING:

Really Interesting New Gene

TNF:

Tumor Necrosis Factor

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Yuhong Tang and Mr. Stacy Allen at the Noble Foundation Microarray Facility for microarray analyses and Ms. Karen Flowers at the Noble Foundation Greenhouse Facility for assistance with plant production. This work was funded in part by grants from the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science & Technology and start-up funds from the Noble Foundation and the Walter Sitlington Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Miyoung Kang, Haggag Abdelmageed & Randy D. Allen

  2. Institute for Agricultural Biosciences, Oklahoma State University, Ardmore, OK, 79413, USA

    Miyoung Kang, Haggag Abdelmageed & Randy D. Allen

  3. Center for Biotechnology and Genomics, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, 79409, USA

    Mohamed Fokar

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  1. Miyoung Kang
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  2. Mohamed Fokar
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Correspondence to Randy D. Allen.

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Kang, M., Fokar, M., Abdelmageed, H. et al. Arabidopsis SAP5 functions as a positive regulator of stress responses and exhibits E3 ubiquitin ligase activity. Plant Mol Biol 75, 451–466 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-011-9748-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-011-9748-2

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