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Dwarf apple MbDREB1 enhances plant tolerance to low temperature, drought, and salt stress via both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways

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Abstract

In higher plants, DREB1/CBF-type transcription factors play an important role in tolerance to low temperatures, drought, and high-salt stress. These transcription factors bind to CRT/DRE elements in promoter regions of target genes, regulating their expression. In this study, we cloned and characterized a novel gene encoding a DREB1 transcription factor from dwarf apple, Malus baccata (GenBank accession number: EF582842). Expression of MbDREB1 was induced by cold, drought, and salt stress, and also in response to exogenous ABA. Subcellular localization analyses revealed that MbDREB1 localizes in the nucleus. A yeast activity assay demonstrated that the MbDREB1 gene encodes a transcription activator, which specifically binds to DRE/CRT elements. Compared with wild-type plants, transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing MbDREB1 showed increased tolerance to low temperature, drought, and salt stresses. Analysis of the MbDREB1 promoter revealed an ABA-responsive element (ABRE), an inducer of CBF expression 1 (ICE1)-like binding site, two MYB recognition sites, and three stress-inducible GT-1 boxes. GUS activities driven by the MbDREB1 promoter in transgenic Arabidopsis increased in response to ABA, cold temperature, drought, and salt treatments. Interestingly, the expression of both ABA-independent and ABA-dependent stress-induced genes (COR15a and rd29B, respectively) was activated under normal growth conditions in Arabidopsis overexpressing MbDREB1. These results suggest that MbDREB1 functions as a transcription factor and increases plant tolerance to low temperature, drought, and salt stress via both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ABRE:

ABA-responsive element

CaMV35S:

Cauliflower mosaic virus 35S

CBF :

C-repeat binding factor

COR :

Cold regulated

CRT:

C-repeat

DRE:

Dehydration-responsive element

DREB:

Dehydration-responsive element binding protein

GUS:

β-Glucuronidase

ICE1:

Inducer of CBF expression 1

RACE:

Rapid amplification of cDNA end

NLS:

Nuclear location signal

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Cheng-Chao Zheng (College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University) for help with analysis of the subcellular localization of MbDREB1. This work was supported by grants from the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant no. NCET-08-0693), the Special Program for Research of Transgenic Plants (Grant no. 2008ZX08010-002), the ‘863’ project in China (Grant no. 2007AA100503), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 30400300, 30971804), the Science and Technology Development Project of Jilin province and Changchun City, China (Grant nos. 20080252 and 2009024), and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education Engineering Research Center of Bioreactor and Pharmaceutical Development, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, 130118, China

    Wei Yang, Li-Li Song, Xiu-Ming Liu, Yan-Fang Wang & Hai-Yan Li

  2. College of Life Sciences, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin, 130118, China

    Wei Yang, Xiao-Dan Liu, Xiao-Juan Chi, Fa-Wei Wang, Chuang Zhang, Yang Liu, Jun-Mei Zong & Hai-Yan Li

  3. College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong, 271018, China

    Chang-Ai Wu & Yan-Ze Li

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  1. Wei Yang
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Correspondence to Hai-Yan Li.

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Yang, W., Liu, XD., Chi, XJ. et al. Dwarf apple MbDREB1 enhances plant tolerance to low temperature, drought, and salt stress via both ABA-dependent and ABA-independent pathways. Planta 233, 219–229 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1279-6

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