title: The drought response displayed by a DRE-binding protein from Triticum dicoccoides.
abstract: Drought is one of the major causes of dramatic yield loss in crop plants. Knowledge of how to alleviate this loss is still limited due to the complexity of both the stress condition and plant responses. Wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) is a potential source of important drought-resistance genes for its cultivated relatives. The gene for an emmer DRE-binding protein, TdicDRF1, was cloned and shown to be drought-responsive with orthologs in other plants. This is the first report of the cloning of TdicDRF1, and its expression was further characterized by RT-PCR in both drought-sensitive and drought-resistant accessions of Triticum dicoccoides. Analysis of the AP2/ERF DNA-binding domain of TdicDRF1 as a GST-fusion protein and its binding to DRE by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) indicate functional differences between wheat DREBs and those characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana. DREB expression increased in drought-stressed roots, correlating with the RT-PCR results, but not in leaf, showing that tissue-specific regulation occurs at the protein level. Hence, the DREB-DRE interaction undergoes subtle multi-level regulation.
authors.affiliation: Sabanci University, Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Program, Tuzla, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durmaz
authors.forename: Bala Anı
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Akpınar
authors.forename: Hikmet
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Budak
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004247:DNA; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055864:Droughts; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D015870:Gene Expression; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D004247:DNA