title: The promoter of the AlSAP gene from the halophyte grass Aeluropus littoralis directs a stress-inducible expression pattern in transgenic rice plants.
abstract: When fused to " Pr AlSAP " promoter, transcripts of gusA exhibited similar accumulation patterns in transgenic rice as AlSAP transcripts in A. littoralis. Pr AlSAP can be used for engineering abiotic stress tolerance. We previously showed that ectopic expression of a stress-associated protein gene from Aeluropus littoralis (AlSAP) enhances tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses in tobacco, wheat and rice. The ortholog of AlSAP in rice is OsSAP9. Here, we demonstrate that AlSAP transcripts accumulate in Aeleuropus in response to multiple abiotic stresses and at a higher level in roots, while those of OsSAP9 are preferentially induced by cold and heat treatments and accumulate preferentially in leaves of rice. In silico analysis of the AlSAP promoter "Pr AlSAP " predicted several cis-acting elements responsible for gene regulation by dehydration, salt, heat, ABA, SA, wounding and tissue-specific expression. The Pr AlSAP promoter was fused to the gusA gene and used to produce transgenic rice plants. Transcripts of gusA exhibited similar accumulation patterns in transgenic rice as AlSAP transcripts in A. littoralis. Indeed, accumulation of gusA transcripts was higher in roots than in leaves and induced by salt, drought, cold and heat treatments. GUS activity was confirmed in roots, coleoptiles, leaves and glumes, but absent in the root cell elongation zone and in dry seeds. A wound treatment strongly induced GUS accumulation in leaves and imbibed seeds. Altogether, these results indicate that the regulatory regions of two ortholog genes "AlSAP" and "OsSAP9" have diverged in the specificity of the signals promoting their induction, but that the trans-acting elements allowing the correct spatiotemporal regulation and stress induction of Pr AlSAP exist in rice. Therefore, the AlSAP promoter appears to be an interesting candidate for engineering abiotic stress tolerance in cereals.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, LPAP, Po Box 1117, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Rania
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ben-Saad
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR AGAP, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Donaldo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meynard
authors.affiliation: College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Po Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.|Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, LPAP, Po Box 1117, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ben-Romdhane
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR AGAP, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mieulet
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR AGAP, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Verdeil
authors.affiliation: College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Po Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Doss
authors.affiliation: CIRAD, UMR AGAP, 34398, Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guiderdoni
authors.affiliation: College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Po Box 2460, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia. afif.hassairi@gmail.com.|Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS), University of Sfax, LPAP, Po Box 1117, 3018, Sfax, Tunisia. afif.hassairi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Afif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hassairi
mesh_terms: D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics; D006109:Poaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Abiotic stress; Aeluropus littoralis; AlSAP gene; AlSAP promoter “Pr AlSAP ”- transgenic rice; OsSAP9 gene