Ectopic overexpression of tomato JERF3 in tobacco activates downstream gene expression and enhances salt tolerance.
The ethylene, jasmonic acid and osmotic signaling pathways respond to environmental stimuli and in order to understand how plants adapt to biotic and abiotic stresses it is important to understand how these pathways interact each other. In this paper, we report a novel ERF protein--jasmonate and ethylene-responsive factor 3 (JERF3)--that unites these pathways. JERF3, which functions as an in vivo transcription activator in yeast, binds to the GCC box, an element responsive to ethylene/JA signaling, as well as to DRE, a dehydration-responsive element that responds to dehydration, high salt and low-temperature. Expression of JERF3 in tomato is mainly induced by ethylene, JA, cold, salt or ABA. Constitutive expression of JERF3 in transgenic tobacco significantly activated expression of pathogenesis-related genes that contained the GCC box, resulting in enhanced tolerance to salt. These results indicate that JERF3 functions as a linker in ethylene- and osmotic stress-signaling pathways.
Wang
Hui
H
The National Plant Gene Research Center (Beijing), Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 10081, China.
Huang
Zejun
Z
Chen
Qi
Q
Zhang
Zhijin
Z
Zhang
Hongbo
H
Wu
Yanming
Y
Huang
Dafang
D
Huang
Rongfeng
R
D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000494:pharmacology; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000494:pharmacology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D054883:Oxylipins; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011485:Protein Binding; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
D003517:Cyclopentanes; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005030:Ethylenes; D009841:Oligonucleotides; D054883:Oxylipins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D012965:Sodium Chloride; C011006:jasmonic acid; D000040:Abscisic Acid; C036216:ethylene