The plant hormone abscisic acid mediates the drought-induced expression but not the seed-specific expression of rd22, a gene responsive to dehydration stress in Arabidopsis thaliana

Nine cDNA clones, corresponding to genes that are responsive to dehydration (named RD), have been isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana. The sequence of a putative protein encoded by one of the RD cDNA clones, RD22, exhibits considerable homology to an unidentified seed protein (USP) of Vicia faba. Northern analysis showed that RD22 mRNA is induced by salt stress as well as by water deficit but not by cold or heat stress. RD22 mRNA appeared after the application of abscisic acid (ABA), an indication that transcription of RD22 mRNA is induced by endogenous ABA, the production of which is triggered by drought and salt stress. The induction of RD22 mRNA by ABA was inhibited by cycloheximide. Thus, it appears that protein synthesis is required for the induction of this mRNA by ABA. By contrast, protein synthesis was not required for the ABA-responsive induction RD29 mRNA, which corresponds to another dehydration-responsive gene of A. thaliana. These results suggest that there are at least two mechansisms for the induction of dehydration-responsive genes by ABA. RD22 mRNA was also expressed during the early and middle stages of seed development, showing a pattern of expression similar to that of USP. The seed-specific expression of RD22 seems not to be regulated by ABA. Structural analysis of the RD22 genomic clone revealed that the structural gene (designated rd22) contains three introns, and only a single copy of the gene is present in the A. thaliana genome, while the gene for USP from V. faba is actually a family of genes with 10 to 20 members. The site of initiation of transcription was determined by primer extension. Possible cis-acting elements involved in the expression of rd22 are discussed.

[1]  M. Pagés,et al.  Gene sequence, developmental expression, and protein phosphorylation of RAB-17 in maize , 1990, Plant Molecular Biology.

[2]  L. Willmitzer,et al.  Abscisic acid is involved in the wound-induced expression of the proteinase inhibitor II gene in potato and tomato. , 1989, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  E. Lam,et al.  Tetramer of a 21-base pair synthetic element confers seed expression and transcriptional enhancement in response to water stress and abscisic acid. , 1991, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[4]  T. Nagase,et al.  Binding of the c-myb proto-oncogene product to the simian virus 40 enhancer stimulates transcription. , 1990, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[5]  M. Van Montagu,et al.  Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana root explants by using kanamycin selection. , 1988, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[6]  R. Tjian,et al.  Purification and biochemical characterization of the promoter-specific transcription factor, Sp1. , 1986, Science.

[7]  H. Goodman,et al.  Isolation of the Arabidopsis ABI3 gene by positional cloning. , 1992, The Plant cell.

[8]  N. Chua,et al.  A tobacco bZip transcription activator (TAF‐1) binds to a G‐box‐like motif conserved in plant genes. , 1991, The EMBO journal.

[9]  T. Rapoport,et al.  Abundant embryonic mRNA in field bean (Vicia faba L.) codes for a new class of seed proteins: cDNA cloning and characterization of the primary translation product , 1988, Plant Molecular Biology.

[10]  J. Sambrook,et al.  Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual , 2001 .

[11]  R. Quatrano,et al.  Common amino acid sequence domains among the LEA proteins of higher plants , 1989, Plant Molecular Biology.

[12]  C P Joshi,et al.  An inspection of the domain between putative TATA box and translation start site in 79 plant genes. , 1987, Nucleic acids research.

[13]  R. Quatrano,et al.  Abscisic acid-responsive sequences from the em gene of wheat. , 1989, The Plant cell.

[14]  L. Dure,et al.  Sequence and characterization of 6 Lea proteins and their genes from cotton , 1988, Plant Molecular Biology.

[15]  G. Terstappen,et al.  Molecular cloning of abscisic acid-modulated genes which are induced during desiccation of the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum , 1990, Planta.

[16]  D. Inzé,et al.  A novel seed protein gene from Vicia faba is developmentally regulated in transgenic tobacco and Arabidopsis plants , 1991, Molecular and General Genetics MGG.

[17]  K. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki,et al.  Nuclear proteins bind conserved elements in the abscisic acid-responsive promoter of a rice rab gene. , 1990, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[18]  T. Close,et al.  A cDNA-based comparison of dehydration-induced proteins (dehydrins) in barley and corn , 1989, Plant Molecular Biology.

[19]  F. Salamini,et al.  Characterization of Five Abscisic Acid-Responsive cDNA Clones Isolated from the Desiccation-Tolerant Plant Craterostigma plantagineum and Their Relationship to Other Water-Stress Genes. , 1990, Plant physiology.

[20]  K. Skriver,et al.  Gene expression in response to abscisic acid and osmotic stress. , 1990, The Plant cell.

[21]  H. Saedler,et al.  The regulatory c1 locus of Zea mays encodes a protein with homology to myb proto‐oncogene products and with structural similarities to transcriptional activators. , 1987, The EMBO journal.

[22]  M. Brenner,et al.  Involvement of abscisic Acid in potato cold acclimation. , 1983, Plant physiology.

[23]  S. J. Gilmour,et al.  Cold acclimation and cold-regulated gene expression in ABA mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana , 1991, Plant Molecular Biology.

[24]  L. C. Hannah,et al.  The Viviparous-1 gene and abscisic acid activate the C1 regulatory gene for anthocyanin biosynthesis during seed maturation in maize. , 1992, Genes & development.

[25]  P. Benfey,et al.  Site-specific mutations alter in vitro factor binding and change promoter expression pattern in transgenic plants. , 1989, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[26]  P. Heino,et al.  Separate signal pathways regulate the expression of a low-temperature-induced gene in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. , 1991, Plant Molecular Biology.

[27]  D. McCarty,et al.  The Viviparous-1 developmental gene of maize encodes a novel transcriptional activator , 1991, Cell.

[28]  P. McCourt,et al.  A mutant of Arabidopsis which is defective in seed development and storage protein accumulation is a new abi3 allele , 1992 .

[29]  W. Terzaghi,et al.  DNA binding site preferences and transcriptional activation properties of the Arabidopsis transcription factor GBF1. , 1992, The EMBO journal.

[30]  S. Kay,et al.  Analysis of gene expression in transgenic plants , 1989 .

[31]  N. Sato.  Nucleotide sequence and expression of the phytochrome gene in Pisum sativum: Differential regulation by light of multiple transcripts , 1988, Plant Molecular Biology.

[32]  F. Guerrero,et al.  Turgor-responsive gene transcription and RNA levels increase rapidly when pea shoots are wilted. Sequence and expression of three inducible genes , 1990, Plant Molecular Biology.

[33]  A. E. Sippel,et al.  Viral myb oncogene encodes a sequence-specific DNA-binding activity , 1988, Nature.

[34]  R S Quatrano,et al.  A plant leucine zipper protein that recognizes an abscisic acid response element. , 1990, Science.

[35]  K. Shinozaki,et al.  Molecular Cloning and Characterization of 9 cDNAs for Genes That Are Responsive to Desiccation in Arabidopsis thaliana: SequenceAnalysis of One cDNA Clone That Encodes a Putative Transmembrane Channel Protein , 1992 .

[36]  N. Chua,et al.  Abscisic acid and water‐stress induce the expression of a novel rice gene. , 1988, The EMBO journal.

[37]  K. Yamaguchi-Shinozaki,et al.  Four tightly linked rab genes are differentially expressed in rice , 2004, Plant Molecular Biology.

[38]  Ronald W. Davis,et al.  Yeast centromere binding protein CBF1, of the helix-loop-helix protein family, is required for chromosome stability and methionine prototrophy , 1990, Cell.