title: The Arabidopsis NAC transcription factor ANAC096 cooperates with bZIP-type transcription factors in dehydration and osmotic stress responses.
abstract: Multiple transcription factors (TFs) play essential roles in plants under abiotic stress, but how these multiple TFs cooperate in abiotic stress responses remains largely unknown. In this study, we provide evidence that the NAC (for NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) TF ANAC096 cooperates with the bZIP-type TFs ABRE binding factor and ABRE binding protein (ABF/AREB) to help plants survive under dehydration and osmotic stress conditions. ANAC096 directly interacts with ABF2 and ABF4, but not with ABF3, both in vitro and in vivo. ANAC096 and ABF2 synergistically activate RD29A transcription. Our genome-wide gene expression analysis revealed that a major proportion of abscisic acid (ABA)-responsive genes are under the transcriptional regulation of ANAC096. We found that the Arabidopsis thaliana anac096 mutant is hyposensitive to exogenous ABA and shows impaired ABA-induced stomatal closure and increased water loss under dehydration stress conditions. Furthermore, we found the anac096 abf2 abf4 triple mutant is much more sensitive to dehydration and osmotic stresses than the anac096 single mutant or the abf2 abf4 double mutant. Based on these results, we propose that ANAC096 is involved in a synergistic relationship with a subset of ABFs for the transcriptional activation of ABA-inducible genes in response to dehydration and osmotic stresses.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular and Life Sciences, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea.
authors.forename: Zheng-Yi
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Soo Youn
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Do Young
authors.initials: do Y
authors.lastname: Hyeon
authors.forename: Dae Heon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Youngmin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jing Bo
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Se-Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Joo
authors.forename: Seong-Ki
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Chan
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Daehee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Inhwan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003681:Dehydration; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000040:Abscisic Acid; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C506773:ABF3 protein, Arabidopsis; C520629:RD29a protein, Arabidopsis; C508877:At1g45249 protein, Arabidopsis