RNA helicase-like protein as an early regulator of transcription factors for plant chilling and freezing tolerance.
Susceptibility to chilling injury prevents the cultivation of many important crops and limits the extended storage of horticultural commodities. Although freezing tolerance is acquired through cold-induced gene expression changes mediated in part by the CBF family of transcriptional activators, whether plant chilling resistance or sensitivity involves the CBF genes is not known. We report here that an Arabidopsis thaliana mutant impaired in the cold-regulated expression of CBF genes and their downstream target genes is sensitive to chilling stress. Expression of CBF3 under a strong constitutive promoter restores chilling resistance to the mutant plants. The mutated gene was cloned and found to encode a nuclear localized RNA helicase. Our results identify a regulator of CBF genes, and demonstrate the importance of gene regulation and the CBF transcriptional activators in plant chilling resistance.
Gong
Zhizhong
Z
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
Lee
Hojoung
H
Xiong
Liming
L
Jagendorf
Andre
A
Stevenson
Becky
B
Zhu
Jian-Kang
JK
D000064:Acclimatization; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D003624:Darkness; D005615:Freezing; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D007700:Kinetics; D008027:Light; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D017413:Ribonucleoprotein, U2 Small Nuclear; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
D010940:Plant Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D017413:Ribonucleoprotein, U2 Small Nuclear; D014157:Transcription Factors; D008156:Luciferases; C408625:DDX42 protein, human; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D020365:RNA Helicases