title: Molecular characterization of cotton C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding factor genes that are involved in response to cold stress.
abstract: Low temperature, drought and salinity are major abiotic stresses that influence survival, productivity and geographical distribution of many important crops across the globe. The C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding transcription factors (CBF/DREB) are important proteins involved in response to abiotic stresses in plants. In this study, twenty-one CBF genes were identified in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) by bioinformatic approach. The twenty-one CBF genes (named as GhCBF1--GhCBF21) were characterized to encode proteins that share high similarity with those plant cold stress-related CBF proteins, which contain the classic AP2 domain of 58 amino acid residues. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolated cotton CBF genes can be classified into 4 groups: GhCBF I, GhCBF II, GhCBF III and GhCBF IV. RT-PCR analysis indicated that GhCBF genes were up-regulated in cotton plants under cold stress. Furthermore, four GhCBF genes were up-regulated in cotton under salinity and drought treatments. Our data provided valuable information for further exploring the roles of the CBF genes in cotton development and in response to cold stress.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Key Laboratory of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, College of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, China.
authors.forename: Liu-Feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Jian-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Geng-Qing
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xue-Bao
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003080:Cold Temperature; D019295:Computational Biology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D003368:Gossypium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D020218:Response Elements; D054712:Salinity; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors