title: The overexpression of an Amaranthus hypochondriacus NF-YC gene modifies growth and confers water deficit stress resistance in Arabidopsis.
abstract: Nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y), is a plant heterotrimeric transcription factor constituted by NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC subunits. The function of many NF-Y subunits, mostly of the A and B type, has been studied in plants, but knowledge regarding the C subunit remains fragmentary. Here, a water stress-induced NF-YC gene from Amaranthus hypochondriacus (AhNF-YC) was further characterized by its overexpression in transgenic Arabidospis thaliana plants. A role in development was inferred from modified growth rates in root, rosettes and inflorescences recorded in AhNF-YC overexpressing Arabidopsis plants, in addition to a delayed onset of flowering. Also, the overexpression of AhNF-YC caused increased seedling sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA), and influenced the expression of several genes involved in secondary metabolism, development and ABA-related responses. An altered expression of the latter in water stressed and recovered transgenic plants, together with the observed increase in ABA sensitivity, suggested that their increased water stress resistance was partly ABA-dependent. An untargeted metabolomic analysis also revealed an altered metabolite pattern, both in normal and water stress/recovery conditions. These results suggest that AhNF-YC may play an important regulatory role in both development and stress, and represents a candidate gene for the engineering of abiotic stress resistance in commercial crops.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I. P. N. (Cinvestav), Unidad Irapuato, Km 9.6 del Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apartado Postal 629, C.P. 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Paola A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Palmeros-Suárez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I. P. N. (Cinvestav), Unidad Irapuato, Km 9.6 del Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apartado Postal 629, C.P. 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Julio A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Massange-Sánchez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I. P. N. (Cinvestav), Unidad Irapuato, Km 9.6 del Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apartado Postal 629, C.P. 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Norma A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Martínez-Gallardo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I. P. N. (Cinvestav), Unidad Irapuato, Km 9.6 del Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apartado Postal 629, C.P. 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
authors.forename: Josaphat M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Montero-Vargas
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Molecular, Instituto Tecnológico de Tlajomulco, Jalisco (ITTJ), Km 10 Carretera a San Miguel Cuyutlán, C.P. 45640 Tlajomulco de Zúñiga, Jalisco, Mexico.
authors.forename: Juan F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Gómez-Leyva
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I. P. N. (Cinvestav), Unidad Irapuato, Km 9.6 del Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apartado Postal 629, C.P. 36821 Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico. Electronic address: jdelano@ira.cinvestav.mx.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Délano-Frier
mesh_terms: D027721:Amaranthus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D055864:Droughts; D000066630:Ectopic Gene Expression; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D010940:Plant Proteins; C402244:nuclear factor Y
keywords: Flowering; Grain amaranth; Growth and development; NF-YC; Untargeted metabolome analysis; Water stress