title: The NF-YA transcription factor OsNF-YA7 confers drought stress tolerance of rice in an abscisic acid independent manner.
abstract: The mechanisms of plant response and adaptation to drought stress require the regulation of transcriptional networks via the induction of drought-responsive transcription factors. Nuclear Factor Y (NF-Y) transcription factors have aroused interest in roles of plant drought stress responses. However, the molecular mechanism of the NF-Y-induced drought tolerance is not well understood. Here, we functionally analyzed two rice NF-YA genes, OsNF-YA7 and OsNF-YA4. Expression of OsNF-YA7 was induced by drought stress and its overexpression in transgenic rice plants improved their drought tolerance. In contrast, OsNF-YA4 expression was not increased by drought stress and its overexpression in transgenic rice plants did not affect their sensitivity to drought stress. OsNF-YA4 expression was highly induced by the stress-related hormone abscisic acid (ABA), while OsNF-YA7 was not, indicating that OsNF-YA7 mediates drought tolerance in an ABA-independent manner. Analysis of the OsNF-YA7 promoter revealed three ABA-independent DRE/CTR elements and RNA-seq analysis identified 48 genes downstream of OsNFYA7 action putatively involved in the OsNF-YA7-mediated drought tolerance pathway. Taken together, our results suggest an important role for OsNF-YA7 in rice drought stress tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: eastrootut@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Dong-Keun
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: willoik@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Hyung Il
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, South Korea. Electronic address: geupil.Jang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Geupil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: chungpj@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Pil Joong
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: jsjeong74@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jin Seo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: younshic@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Youn Shic
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: seungwoon93@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Seung Woon
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Bang
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: harin0723@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Harin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, South Korea. Electronic address: choiyngd@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Yang Do
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Crop Biotechnology Institute, Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University, Gangwon-do 25354, South Korea. Electronic address: jukon@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Ju-Kon
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D055864:Droughts; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C402244:nuclear factor Y; D000040:Abscisic Acid
keywords: Abscisic acid; Drought tolerance; Nuclear factor (NF)-YA; Rice; Transcription factor