title: Abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis overexpressing the multiprotein bridging factor 1a (MBF1a) transcriptional coactivator gene.
abstract: We conducted a genetic yeast screen to identify salt tolerance (SAT) genes in a maize kernel cDNA library. During the screening, we identified a maize clone (SAT41) that seemed to confer elevated salt tolerance in comparison to control cells. SAT41 cDNA encodes a 16-kDa protein which is 82.4% identical to the Arabidopsis Multiprotein bridging factor 1a (MBF1a) transcriptional coactivator gene. To further examine salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis, we functionally characterized the MBF1a gene and found that dehydration as well as heightened glucose (Glc) induced MBF1a expression. Constitutive expression of MBF1a in Arabidopsis led to elevated salt tolerance in transgenic lines. Interestingly, plants overexpressing MBF1a exhibited insensitivity to Glc and resistance to fungal disease. Our results suggest that MBF1a is involved in stress tolerance as well as in ethylene and Glc signaling in Arabidopsis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biotechnology and Agricultural Plant Stress Research Center, Chonnam National University, Kwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Gah-Hyun
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Eun-Seon
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chang-Beom
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Kwang-Yeol
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jin-An
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Myung-Chul
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Cheol Soo
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005030:Ethylenes / Q000378:metabolism; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000378:metabolism; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D005030:Ethylenes; C491466:MBF1 protein, Arabidopsis; D015222:Sodium Channels; D015534:Trans-Activators; C036216:ethylene; D005947:Glucose