Identification of a cis-regulatory region of a gene in Arabidopsis thaliana whose induction by dehydration is mediated by abscisic acid and requires protein synthesis.
In Arabidopsis thaliana, the induction of a dehydration-responsive gene, rd22, is mediated by abscisic acid (ABA) but the gene does not include any sequence corresponding to the consensus ABA-responsive element (ABRE), RYACGTGGYR, in its promoter region. The cis-regulatory region of the rd22 promoter was identified by monitoring the expression of beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity in leaves of transgenic tobacco plants transformed with chimeric gene fusions constructed between 5'-deleted promoters of rd22 and the coding region of the GUS reporter gene. A 67-bp nucleotide fragment corresponding to positions -207 to -141 of the rd22 promoter conferred responsiveness to dehydration and ABA on a non-responsive promoter. The 67-bp fragment contains the sequences of the recognition sites for some transcription factors, such as MYC, MYB, and GT-1. The fact that accumulation of rd22 mRNA requires protein synthesis raises the possibility that the expression of rd22 might be regulated by one of these trans-acting protein factors whose de novo synthesis is induced by dehydration or ABA. Although the structure of the RD22 protein is very similar to that of a non-storage seed protein, USP, of Vicia faba, the expression of the GUS gene driven by the rd22 promoter in non-stressed transgenic Arabidopsis plants was found mainly in flowers and bolted stems rather than in seeds.
Iwasaki
T
T
Laboratory of Plant Molecular Biology, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), Tsukuba Life Science Center, Ibaraki, Japan.
Yamaguchi-Shinozaki
K
K
Shinozaki
K
K
D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000502:physiology*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D012639:Seeds; D014867:Water
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D010940:Plant Proteins; C080922:RD22 protein, Arabidopsis; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014867:Water; D000040:Abscisic Acid