VaERD15, a Transcription Factor Gene Associated with Cold-Tolerance in Chinese WildVitis amurensis.
Early responsive to dehydration (ERD) genes can be rapidly induced to counteract abiotic stresses, such as drought, low temperatures or high salinities. Here, we report on anERDgene (VaERD15) related to cold tolerance from Chinese wildVitis amurensisaccession 'Heilongjiang seedling'. The full-lengthVaERD15cDNA is 685 bp, including a 66 bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a 196 bp 3'-UTR region and a 423 bp open reading frame encoding 140 amino acids. The VaERD15 protein shares a high amino acid sequence similarity with ERD15 ofArabidopsis thaliana. In our study,VaERD15was shown to have a nucleic localization function and a transcriptional activation function. Semi-quantitative PCR and Western blot analyses showed thatVaERD15was constitutively expressed in young leaves, stems and roots ofV. amurensisaccession 'Heilongjiang seedling' plants, and expression levels increased after low-temperature treatment. We also generated a transgenicArabidopsisCol-0 line that over-expressedVaERD15and carried out a cold-treatment assay. Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analyses showed that as the duration of cold treatment increased, the expression of both gene and protein levels increased continuously in the transgenic plants, while almost no expression was detected in the wild typeArabidopsis. Moreover, the plants that over-expressedVaERD15showed higher cold tolerance and accumulation of proline, soluble sugars, proteins, malondialdehyde and three antioxidases (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase). Lower levels of relative ion leakage also occurred under cold stress. Taken together, our results indicate that the transcription factorVaERD15was induced by cold stress and was able to enhance cold tolerance.
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of AgricultureYangling, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China.
Dongdong
D
Yu
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of AgricultureYangling, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China.
Lihua
L
Zhang
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of AgricultureYangling, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China.
Kai
K
Zhao
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of AgricultureYangling, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China.
Ruxuan
R
Niu
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of AgricultureYangling, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China.
Huan
H
Zhai
College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China; Key Laboratory of Horticultural Plant Biology and Germplasm Innovation in Northwest China, Ministry of AgricultureYangling, China; State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, Northwest A&F UniversityYangling, China.
Jianxia
J
Zhang
VaERD15; Vitis amurensis; cold tolerance; functional analysis; grapevine