title: JcLEA, a novel LEA-like protein from Jatropha curcas, confers a high level of tolerance to dehydration and salinity in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Jatropha curcas L. is a highly drought and salt tolerant plant species that is typically used as a traditional folk medicine and biofuel crop in many countries. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie the response to various abiotic environmental stimuli, especially to drought and salt stresses, in J. curcas could be important to crop improvement efforts. In this study, we cloned and characterized the gene for a late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein from J. curcas that we designated JcLEA. Sequence analyses showed that the JcLEA protein belongs to group 5, a subgroup of the LEA protein family. In young seedlings, expression of JcLEA is significantly induced by abscisic acid (ABA), dehydration, and salt stress. Subcellular localization analysis shows that that JcLEA protein is distributed in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Moreover, based on growth status and physiological indices, the overexpression of JcLEA in transgenic Arabidopsis plants conferred increased resistance to both drought and salt stresses compared to the WT. Our data suggests that the group 5 JcLEA protein contributes to drought and salt stress tolerance in plants. Thus, JcLEA is a potential candidate gene for plant genetic modification.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Mingqi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuanjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Plant Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D003681:Dehydration / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant; D031286:Jatropha / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D054712:Salinity; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; D000040:Abscisic Acid