Recent Advances in Utilizing Transcription Factors to Improve Plant Abiotic Stress Tolerance by Transgenic Technology

Genes in the ERF family encode transcriptional regulators with a variety of functions involved in the developmental and physiological processes in plants. In this study, a comprehensive computational analysis identified 122 and 139 ERF family genes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp. japonica), respectively. A complete overview of this gene family in Arabidopsis is presented, including the gene structures, phylogeny, chromosome locations, and conserved motifs. In addition, a comparative analysis between these genes in Arabidopsis and rice was performed. As a result of these analyses, the ERF families in Arabidopsis and rice were divided into 12 and 15 groups, respectively, and several of these groups were further divided into subgroups. Based on the observation that 11 of these groups were present in both Arabidopsis and rice, it was concluded that the major functional diversification within the ERF family predated the monocot/dicot divergence. In contrast, some groups/subgroups are species specific. We discuss the relationship between the structure and function of the ERF family proteins based on these results and published information. It was further concluded that the expansion of the ERF family in plants might have been due to chromosomal/segmental duplication and tandem duplication, as well as more ancient transposition and homing. These results will be useful for future functional analyses of the ERF family genes.

DRE/CRT is a cis-acting element that is involved in gene expression responsive to drought and low-temperature stress in higher plants. DREB1A/CBF3 and DREB2A are transcription factors that specifically bind to DRE/CRT in Arabidopsis. We precisely analyzed the DNA-binding specificity of DREBs. Both DREBs specifically bound to six nucleotides (A/GCCGAC) of DRE. However, these proteins had different binding specificities to the second or third nucleotides of DRE. Gel mobility shift assay using mutant DREB proteins showed that the two amino acids, valine and glutamic acid conserved in the ERF/AP2 domains, especially valine, have important roles in DNA-binding specificity. In the Arabidopsis genome, 145 DREB/ERF-related proteins are encoded. These proteins were classified into five groups-AP-2 subfamily, RAV subfamily, DREB subfamily, ERF subfamily, and others. The DREB subfamily included three novel DREB1A- and six DREB2A-related proteins. We analyzed expression of novel genes for these proteins and discuss their roles in stress-responsive gene expression.

Plant growth is greatly affected by drought and low temperature. Expression of a number of genes is induced by both drought and low temperature, although these stresses are quite different. Previous experiments have established that a cis-acting element named DRE (for dehydration-responsive element) plays an important role in both dehydration- and low-temperature-induced gene expression in Arabidopsis. Two cDNA clones that encode DRE binding proteins, DREB1A and DREB2A, were isolated by using the yeast one-hybrid screening technique. The two cDNA libraries were prepared from dehydrated and cold-treated rosette plants, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of DREB1A and DREB2A showed no significant sequence similarity, except in the conserved DNA binding domains found in the EREBP and APETALA2 proteins that function in ethylene-responsive expression and floral morphogenesis, respectively. Both the DREB1A and DREB2A proteins specifically bound to the DRE sequence in vitro and activated the transcription of the b-glucuronidase reporter gene driven by the DRE sequence in Arabidopsis leaf protoplasts. Expression of the DREB1A gene and its two homologs was induced by low-temperature stress, whereas expression of the DREB2A gene and its single homolog was induced by dehydration. Overexpression of the DREB1A cDNA in transgenic Arabidopsis plants not only induced strong expression of the target genes under unstressed conditions but also caused dwarfed phenotypes in the transgenic plants. These transgenic plants also revealed freezing and dehydration tolerance. In contrast, overexpression of the DREB2A cDNA induced weak expression of the target genes under unstressed conditions and caused growth retardation of the transgenic plants. These results indicate that two independent families of DREB proteins, DREB1 and DREB2, function as trans-acting factors in two separate signal transduction pathways under low-temperature and dehydration conditions, respectively.