title: Molecular switch for cold acclimation -- anatomy of the cold-inducible promoter in plants.
abstract: In plants, a promoter is essential to drive the transcription and expression of genes under stress conditions. The cold-regulated promoter is an important molecular switch involved in transcriptional regulation of a dynamic network of genes associated with cold acclimation processes. However, the structure and functions of the cold-regulated promoter are ambiguous. In this review, we first describe the common type and structures of the cold-regulated promoter, such as the core promoter and transcription factor binding sites, and then discuss the synergistic actions of promoter elements and cold-regulated genes. We also describe the transcriptional responses and cross-talk among cold-regulated genes in the ICE-CBF-COR cold-response pathway. Many stress-inducible genes are known to be regulated by endogenous abscisic acid (ABA), which accumulates during osmotic and cold stress. We discuss the regulation of promoters of cold-inducible genes in ABA-dependent and ABA-independent regulatory systems. We also describe the cross-talk among gene networks regulated by different cis-acting regulatory elements. Finally, we propose potential further research on, and practical applications of, the cold-regulated promoter.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Biotechnology of Liaoning Province, College of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110866, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Li-Ping
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Li-Jing
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ming-Hui
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Zheng-Jin
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhi-Fu
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D000064:Acclimatization / Q000235:genetics*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D010944:Plants / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000040:Abscisic Acid