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Ectopic expression of a grapevine transcription factor VvWRKY11 contributes to osmotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Plant WRKY transcriptional factors play an important role in response to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, a WRKY transcription factor was isolated from grapevine. This transcription factor showed 66% and 58% identity at the DNA and amino acid sequence levels, respectively, with Arabidopsis AtWRKY11 genes, and was therefore designated VvWRKY11. Phylogenetic analysis and structure comparison indicated that VvWRKY11 protein belongs to group IIc. The VvWRKY11 protein was shown to be located in the nucleus based on green fluorescent protein analysis. Yeast one-hybrid analysis further indicated that VvWRKY11 protein binds specifically to the W-box element. The expression profile of VvWRKY11 in response to treatment with phytohormone salicylic acid or pathogen Plasmopara viticola is rapid and transient. Transgenic Arabidopsis seedlings overexpressing VvWRKY11 showed higher tolerance to water stress induced by mannitol than wild-type plants. These results clearly demonstrated that the VvWRKY11 gene is involved in the response to dehydration stress. In addition, the role of VvWRKY11 protein in regulating the expression of two stress response genes, AtRD29A and AtRD29B, is also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Yucheng Guan for his advice on yeast one-hybrid analysis. This study was funded by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-YW-N-032) and the CAS/SAFEA International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100093, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Huaying Liu

  2. Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Huaying Liu

  3. Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Wenlong Yang, Dongcheng Liu & Aimin Zhang

  4. Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Speciality Agriculture, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430074, Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

    Yuepeng Han & Shaohua Li

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  1. Huaying Liu
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  2. Wenlong Yang
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  3. Dongcheng Liu
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  4. Yuepeng Han
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Correspondence to Shaohua Li.

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Liu, H., Yang, W., Liu, D. et al. Ectopic expression of a grapevine transcription factor VvWRKY11 contributes to osmotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis . Mol Biol Rep 38, 417–427 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-010-0124-0

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