Silencing of TaBTF3 gene impairs tolerance to freezing and drought stresses in wheat.
Basic transcription factor 3 (BTF3), the β-subunit of the nascent polypeptide-associated complex, is responsible for the transcriptional initiation of RNA polymerase II and is also involved in cell apoptosis, translation initiation regulation, growth, development, and other functions. Here, we report the impact of BTF3 on abiotic tolerance in higher plants. The transcription levels of the TaBTF3 gene, first isolated from wheat seedlings in our lab, were differentially regulated by diverse abiotic stresses and hormone treatments, including PEG-induced stress (20 % polyethylene glycol 6000), cold (4 °C), salt (100 mM NaCl), abscisic acid (100 μM), methyl jasmonate (50 μM), and salicylic acid (50 μM). Southern blot analysis indicated that, in the wheat genome, TaBTF3 is a multi-copy gene. Compared to BSMV-GFP-infected wheat plants (control), under freezing (-8 °C for 48 h) or drought stress (withholding water for 15 days) conditions, TaBTF3-silenced wheat plants showed lower survival rates, free proline content, and relative water content and higher relative electrical conductivity and water loss rate. These results suggest that silencing of the TaBTF3 gene may impair tolerance to freezing and drought stresses in wheat and that it may be involved in the response to abiotic stresses in higher plants.
National Engineering Research Centre for Wheat, The Key Laboratory of Physiology, Ecology and Genetic Improvement of Food Crops in Henan Province, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, Henan, China, zkangg@163.com.
Guozhang
G
Kang
Hongzhen
H
Ma
Guoqin
G
Liu
Qiaoxia
Q
Han
Chengwei
C
Li
Tiancai
T
Guo
D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D000085:Acetates / Q000494:pharmacology; D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000494:pharmacology; D055864:Droughts; D005615:Freezing; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020868:Gene Silencing; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D054883:Oxylipins / Q000494:pharmacology; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D020156:Salicylic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014908:Triticum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014867:Water / Q000502:physiology*
D000085:Acetates; D003517:Cyclopentanes; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D054883:Oxylipins; D010937:Plant Growth Regulators; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant; D014157:Transcription Factors; C063552:transcription factor BTF3; D014867:Water; D000040:Abscisic Acid; C072239:methyl jasmonate; D020156:Salicylic Acid