Plant responses to flooding stress.
Most plant species cannot survive prolonged submergence or soil waterlogging. Crops are particularly intolerant to the lack of oxygen arising from submergence. Rice can instead germinate and grow even if submerged. The molecular basis for rice tolerance was recently unveiled and will contribute to the development of better rice varieties, well adapted to flooding. The oxygen sensing mechanism was also recently discovered. This system likely operates in all plant species and relies on the oxygen-dependent destabilization of the group VII ethylene response factors (ERFVIIs), a cluster of ethylene responsive transcription factors. An homeostatic mechanism that controls gene expression in plants subjected to hypoxia prevents excessive activation of the anaerobic metabolism that could be detrimental to surviving the stress.
Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, CNR, Pisa, Italy.
Elena
E
Loreti
PlantLab, Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
Hans
H
van Veen
PlantLab, Institute of Life Sciences, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, 56124 Pisa, Italy. Electronic address: p.perata@sssup.it.
Pierdomenico
P
Perata
D000693:Anaerobiosis; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055868:Floods; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053833:Wetlands
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors