Molecular responses to drought, salinity and frost: common and different paths for plant protection

Enhanced stress tolerance in transgenic pine expressing the pepper CaPF1 gene is associated with the polyamine biosynthesis

ERF/AP2 transcription factors play an important role in plant stress tolerance. However, little is known about the functional significance of ERF/AP2 genes in pine, compared to the model plant species Arabidopsis. Capsicum annuum pathogen and freezing tolerance-related protein 1 (CaPF1) is an ERF/AP2 transcription factor. We show here that overexpression of CaPF1 resulted in a dramatic increase in tolerance to drought, freezing, and salt stress in a gymnosperm species, eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.). Measurement of polyamines demonstrated that the levels of putrescine (Put), spermidine (Spd), and spermine (Spm) did not increase but remain constant in CaPF1-overexpressed eastern white pine, whereas the levels decreased in the controls, probably increasing the ability of transgenic callus cultures and plants to stress tolerance. These results demonstrated that enhanced stress tolerance in transgenic pine expressing the pepper CaPF1 gene is associated with the polyamine biosynthesis and this pepper transcription factor may be used to engineer pine species for multiple stress tolerance.

Co-expression of the stress-inducible zinc finger homeodomain ZFHD1 and NAC transcription factors enhances expression of the ERD1 gene in Arabidopsis

The ZFHD recognition sequence (ZFHDRS) and NAC recognition sequence (NACRS) play an important role in the dehydration-inducible expression of the Arabidopsisthaliana EARLY RESPONSIVETO DEHYDRATION STRESS 1 (ERD1) gene. Using the yeast one-hybrid system, we isolated a cDNA encoding the ZFHD1 transcriptional activator that specifically binds to the 62 bp promoter region of ERD1, which contains the ZFHDRS. Both in vitro and in vivo analyses confirmed specific binding of the ZFHD1 to ZFHDRS, and the expression of ZFHD1 was induced by drought, high salinity and abscisic acid. The DNA-binding and activation domains of ZFHD1 were localized on the C-terminal homeodomain and N-terminal zinc finger domain, respectively. Microarray analysis of transgenic plants over-expressing ZFHD1 revealed that several stress-inducible genes were upregulated in the transgenic plants. Transgenic plants exhibited a smaller morphological phenotype and had a significant improvement of drought stress tolerance. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we detected an interaction between ZFHD1 and NACRS-binding NAC proteins. Moreover, co-over-expression of the ZFHD1 and NAC genes restored the morphological phenotype of the transgenic plants to a near wild-type state and enhanced expression of ERD1 in both Arabidopsis T87 protoplasts and transgenic Arabidopsis plants.

How does arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis regulate root hydraulic properties and plasma membrane aquaporins in Phaseolus vulgaris under drought, cold or salinity stresses?

Here, we evaluated how the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis regulates root hydraulic properties and root plasma membrane aquaporins (PIP) under different stresses sharing a common osmotic component. Phaseolus vulgaris plants were inoculated or not with the AM fungus Glomus intraradices, and subjected to drought, cold or salinity. Stress effects on root hydraulic conductance (L), PIP gene expression and protein abundance were evaluated. Under control conditions, L in AM plants was about half that in nonAM plants. However, L was decreased as a result of the three stresses in nonAM plants, while it was almost unchanged in AM plants. At the same time, PIP2 protein abundance and phosphorylation state presented the same trend as L. Finally, the expression of each PIP gene responded differently to each stress and was dependent on the AM fungal presence. Differential expression of the PIP genes studied under each stress depending on the AM fungal presence may indicate a specific function and regulation by the AM symbiosis of each gene under the specific conditions of each stress tested.

Enhancement of chilling resistance of inoculated grapevine plantlets with a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, Burkholderia phytofirmans strain PsJN

In vitro inoculation of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chardonnay explants with a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium, Burkholderia phytofirmans strain PsJN, increased grapevine growth and physiological activity at a low temperature. There was a relationship between endophytic bacterial colonization of the grapevine plantlets and their growth at both ambient (26 degrees C) and low (4 degrees C) temperatures and their sensitivities to chilling. The major benefits of bacterization were observed on root growth (11.8- and 10.7-fold increases at 26 degrees C and 4 degrees C, respectively) and plantlet biomass (6- and 2.2-fold increases at 26 degrees C and 4 degrees C, respectively). The inoculation with PsJN also significantly improved plantlet cold tolerance compared to that of the nonbacterized control. In nonchilled plantlets, bacterization enhanced CO(2) fixation and O(2) evolution 1.3 and 2.2 times, respectively. The nonbacterized controls were more sensitive to exposure to low temperatures than were the bacterized plantlets, as indicated by several measured parameters. Moreover, relative to the noninoculated controls, bacterized plantlets had significantly increased levels of starch, proline, and phenolics. These increases correlated with the enhancement of cold tolerance of the grapevine plantlets. In summary, B. phytofirmans strain PsJN inoculation stimulates grapevine growth and improves its ability to withstand cold stress.

Overexpressing a NAM, ATAF, and CUC (NAC) transcription factor enhances drought resistance and salt tolerance in rice

Drought and salinity are major abiotic stresses to crop production. Here, we show that overexpression of stress responsive gene SNAC1 (STRESS-RESPONSIVE NAC 1) significantly enhances drought resistance in transgenic rice (22-34% higher seed setting than control) in the field under severe drought stress conditions at the reproductive stage while showing no phenotypic changes or yield penalty. The transgenic rice also shows significantly improved drought resistance and salt tolerance at the vegetative stage. Compared with WT, the transgenic rice are more sensitive to abscisic acid and lose water more slowly by closing more stomatal pores, yet display no significant difference in the rate of photosynthesis. SNAC1 is induced predominantly in guard cells by drought and encodes a NAM, ATAF, and CUC (NAC) transcription factor with transactivation activity. DNA chip analysis revealed that a large number of stress-related genes were up-regulated in the SNAC1-overexpressing rice plants. Our data suggest that SNAC1 holds promising utility in improving drought and salinity tolerance in rice.

Induction of abscisic acid-regulated gene expression by diacylglycerol pyrophosphate involves Ca2+ and anion currents in Arabidopsis suspension cells

Diacylglycerol pyrophosphate (DGPP) was recently shown to be a possible intermediate in abscisic acid (ABA) signaling. In this study, reverse transcription-PCR of ABA up-regulated genes was used to evaluate the ability of DGPP to trigger gene expression in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) suspension cells. At5g06760, LTI30, RD29A, and RAB18 were stimulated by ABA and also specifically expressed in DGPP-treated cells. Use of the Ca2+ channel blockers fluspirilene and pimozide and the Ca2+ chelator EGTA showed that Ca2+ was required for ABA induction of DGPP formation. In addition, Ca2+ participated in DGPP induction of gene expression via stimulation of anion currents. Hence, a sequence of Ca2+, DGPP, and anion currents, constituting a core of early ABA-signaling events necessary for gene expression, is proposed.

Expression of tobacco ethylene receptor NTHK1 alters plant responses to salt stress

Ethylene has been regarded as a stress hormone involved in many stress responses. However, ethylene receptors have not been studied for the roles they played under salt stress condition. Previously, we characterized an ethylene receptor gene NTHK1 from tobacco, and found that NTHK1 is salt-inducible. Here, we report a further investigation towards the function of NTHK1 in response to salt stress by using a transgenic approach. We found that NTHK1 promotes leaf growth in the transgenic tobacco seedlings but affects salt sensitivity in these transgenic seedlings under salt stress condition. Differential Na+/K+ ratio was observed in the control Xanthi and NTHK1-transgenic plants after salt stress treatment. We further found that the NTHK1 transgene is also salt-inducible in the transgenic plants, and the higher NTHK1 expression results in early inductions of the ACC (1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) oxidase gene NtACO3 and ethylene responsive factor (ERF) genes NtERF1 and NtERF4 under salt stress. However, NTHK1 suppresses the salt-inducible expression of the ACC synthase gene NtACS1. These results indicate that NTHK1 regulates salt stress responses by affecting ion accumulation and related gene expressions, and hence have significance in elucidation of ethylene receptor functions during stress signal transduction.

Expression of a transcription factor from Capsicum annuum in pine calli counteracts the inhibitory effects of salt stress on adventitious shoot formation

Transcription factors regulating the stress-responsive gene expression play an important role in plant stress adaptation. In this study, we examined the salt stress tolerance of transgenic Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana Mill.) overexpressing a Capsicum annuum ERF/AP2-type transcription factor (CaPF1), which may enhance the ability of transgenic plants to tolerate various kinds of stresses during vegetative growth. CaPF1 transgene increased the salt and oxidative stress tolerances of pine tissues and counteracted the inhibitory effects of salt stress on the growth of transgenic Virginia pine calli, shoots, and plants. To our surprise, the ability of shoot formation was enhanced in three CaPF1 transgenic Virginia pine cell lines under stress of different NaCl concentrations. NaCl at 200 mM significantly increased the frequency of adventitious shoot formation and the number of shoots per gram calli. Measurement of plant hormone demonstrated that the levels of cytokinin was altered in CaPF1-overexpressed Virginia pine calli, compared to the control. Based on our results, we speculate that the altered level of cytokinin may result in enhancing adventitious shoot formation of transgenic calli exposed to salt for 1 week via an unknown mechanism.

Higher daytime leaf temperatures contribute to lower freeze tolerance under elevated CO2

Elevated atmospheric CO2 adversely affects freezing tolerance in many evergreens, but the underlying mechanism(s) have been elusive. We compared effects of elevated CO2 with those of daytime warming on acclimation of snow gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora) to freezing temperatures under field conditions. Reduction in stomatal conductance g(c) under elevated CO2 was shown to cause leaf temperature to increase by up to 3 degrees C. In this study, this increase in leaf temperature was simulated under ambient CO2 conditions by using a free air temperature increase (FATI) system to warm snow gum leaves during daytime, thereby increasing the diurnal range in temperature without affecting temperature minima. Acclimation to freezing temperatures was assessed using measures of electrolyte leakage and photosynthetic efficiency of leaf discs exposed to different nadir temperatures. Here, we show that both elevated CO2 and daytime warming delayed acclimation to freezing temperatures for 2-3 weeks after which time freeze tolerance of the treated plants in both the FATI and open top chamber (OTC) experiments did not differ from control plants. Our results support the hypothesis that delayed development of freezing tolerance under elevated CO2 is because of higher daytime leaf temperatures under elevated CO2. Thus, potential gains in productivity in response to increasing atmospheric CO2 and prolonging the growing season may be reduced by an increase in freezing stress in frost-prone area.

Identification of genes induced upon water-deficit stress in a drought-tolerant rice cultivar

Among the abiotic stresses, the availability of water is the most important factor that limits the productive potential of higher plants. The identification of novel genes, determination of their expression patterns, and the understanding of their functions in stress adaptation is essential to improve stress tolerance. Amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis of cDNA was used to identify rice genes differentially expressed in a tolerant rice variety upon water-deficit stress. In total, 103 transcript-derived fragments corresponding to differentially induced genes were identified. The results of the sequence comparison in BLAST database revealed that several differentially expressed TDFs were significantly homologous to stress regulated genes/proteins isolated from rice or other plant species. Most of the transcripts identified here were genes related to metabolism, energy, protein biosynthesis, cell defence, signal transduction, and transport. New genes involved in the response to water-deficit stress in a tolerant rice variety are reported here.

Monitoring expression profiles of Arabidopsis genes during cold acclimation and deacclimation using DNA microarrays

A comparative analysis of gene expression profiles during cold acclimation and deacclimation is necessary to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of cold stress responses in higher plants. We analyzed gene expression profiles in the process of cold acclimation and deacclimation (recovery from cold stress) using two microarray systems, the 7K RAFL cDNA microarray and the Agilent 22K oligonucleotide array. By both microarray analyses, we identified 292 genes up-regulated and 320 genes down-regulated during deacclimation, and 445 cold up-regulated genes and 341 cold down-regulated genes during cold acclimation. Many genes up-regulated during deacclimation were found to be down-regulated during cold acclimation, and vice versa. The genes up-regulated during deacclimation were classified into (1) regulatory proteins involved in further regulation of signal transduction and gene expression and (2) functional proteins involved in the recovery process from cold-stress-induced damages and plant growth. We also applied expression profiling studies to identify the key genes involved in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates and amino acids that are known to play important roles in cold acclimation. We compared genes that are regulated during deacclimation with those regulated during rehydration after dehydration to discuss the similarity and difference of each recovery process.

Identification of plant stress-responsive determinants in Arabidopsis by large-scale forward genetic screens

All plants sense and adapt to adverse environmental conditions, however, crop plants exhibit less genetic diversity for abiotic stress tolerance than do wild relatives indicating that a genetic basis exists for stress adaptability. Model plant genetic systems and the plethora of molecular genetic resources that are currently available are greatly enhancing our ability to identify abiotic stress-responsive genetic determinants. Forward genetic screens of T-DNA mutagenized Arabidopsis thaliana populations in the genetic background of ecotypes C24(RD29a-LUC) and Col-0 gl1 sos3-1 were carried out to begin an exhaustive search for such determinants. The C24(RD29a-LUC) screens identified mutants with altered salt/osmotic stress sensitivity or mutants with altered expression of the salt/osmotic/cold/ABA-responsive RD29a gene. Also, mutations that alter the NaCl sensitivity of sos3-1 were screened for potential genetic suppressors or enhancers of salt-stress responses mediated by SOS3. In total, more than 250 000 independent insertion lines were screened and greater than 200 individual mutants that exhibited altered stress/ABA responses were recovered. Although several of these mutants have been reported, most have not yet been studied in detail. Notable examples include novel alleles of SOS1 and mutations to genes encoding the STT3a subunit of the oligosaccharyltransferase, syntaxin, RNA polymerase II CTD phosphatases, transcription factors, ABA biosynthetic enzyme, Na+ transporter HKT1, and SUMO E3 ligase. The stress-specific phenotypes of mutations to genes that are involved in many basic cellular functions provide indication of the wide range of control mechanisms in cellular homeostasis that are involved in stress adaptation.

Transcriptional regulatory networks in cellular responses and tolerance to dehydration and cold stresses

Plant growth and productivity are greatly affected by environmental stresses such as drought, high salinity, and low temperature. Expression of a variety of genes is induced by these stresses in various plants. The products of these genes function not only in stress tolerance but also in stress response. In the signal transduction network from perception of stress signals to stress-responsive gene expression, various transcription factors and cis-acting elements in the stress-responsive promoters function for plant adaptation to environmental stresses. Recent progress has been made in analyzing the complex cascades of gene expression in drought and cold stress responses, especially in identifying specificity and cross talk in stress signaling. In this review article, we highlight transcriptional regulation of gene expression in response to drought and cold stresses, with particular emphasis on the role of transcription factors and cis-acting elements in stress-inducible promoters.

DNA sequence variation and selection of tag single-nucleotide polymorphisms at candidate genes for drought-stress response in Pinus taeda L

Genetic association studies are rapidly becoming the experimental approach of choice to dissect complex traits, including tolerance to drought stress, which is the most common cause of mortality and yield losses in forest trees. Optimization of association mapping requires knowledge of the patterns of nucleotide diversity and linkage disequilibrium and the selection of suitable polymorphisms for genotyping. Moreover, standard neutrality tests applied to DNA sequence variation data can be used to select candidate genes or amino acid sites that are putatively under selection for association mapping. In this article, we study the pattern of polymorphism of 18 candidate genes for drought-stress response in Pinus taeda L., an important tree crop. Data analyses based on a set of 21 putatively neutral nuclear microsatellites did not show population genetic structure or genomewide departures from neutrality. Candidate genes had moderate average nucleotide diversity at silent sites (pi(sil) = 0.00853), varying 100-fold among single genes. The level of within-gene LD was low, with an average pairwise r2 of 0.30, decaying rapidly from approximately 0.50 to approximately 0.20 at 800 bp. No apparent LD among genes was found. A selective sweep may have occurred at the early-response-to-drought-3 (erd3) gene, although population expansion can also explain our results and evidence for selection was not conclusive. One other gene, ccoaomt-1, a methylating enzyme involved in lignification, showed dimorphism (i.e., two highly divergent haplotype lineages at equal frequency), which is commonly associated with the long-term action of balancing selection. Finally, a set of haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNPs) was selected. Using htSNPs, a reduction of genotyping effort of approximately 30-40%, while sampling most common allelic variants, can be gained in our ongoing association studies for drought tolerance in pine.

AtNAC2, a transcription factor downstream of ethylene and auxin signaling pathways, is involved in salt stress response and lateral root development

An NAC-type transcription factor gene AtNAC2 was identified from Arabidopsis thaliana when expression patterns of the genes from a microarray analysis were examined. The AtNAC2 expression was induced by salt stress and this induction was reduced in magnitude in the transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing tobacco ethylene receptor gene NTHK1. AtNAC2 is localized in the nucleus and has transcriptional activation activity. It can form a homodimer in yeast. AtNAC2 was highly expressed in roots and flowers, but less expressed in other organs examined. In addition to the salt induction, the AtNAC2 can also be induced by abscisic acid (ABA), ACC and NAA. The salt induction was enhanced in the ethylene overproducer mutant eto1-1, but suppressed in the ethylene-insensitive mutants etr1-1 and ein2-1, and in the auxin-insensitive mutant tir1-1when compared with that in wild-type plants. However, the salt induction of AtNAC2 was not significantly affected in the ABA-insensitive mutants abi2-1, abi3-1 and abi4-1. These results indicate that the salt response of AtNAC2 requires ethylene signaling and auxin signaling pathways but does not require ABI2, ABI3 and ABI4, intermediates of the ABA signaling pathway. Overexpression of AtNAC2 in transgenic Arabidopsis plants resulted in promotion of lateral root development. AtNAC2 also promoted or inhibited downstream gene expressions. These results indicate that AtNAC2 may be a transcription factor incorporating the environmental and endogenous stimuli into the process of plant lateral root development.

Salinity stress adaptation competence in the extremophile Thellungiella halophila in comparison with its relative Arabidopsis thaliana

In stark contrast to Arabidopsis, a related species, Thellungiella halophila (Thellungiella salsuginea; salt cress), displays extreme tolerance to high salinity, low humidity and freezing. High nucleotide sequence identity permits the use of tools developed for Arabidopsis for Thellungiella transcript profiling, for which a microarray platform with >25,000 DNA elements (70-mer oligonucleotides) was used. Microarray transcript profiling and intensity analysis, quantitative RT-PCR, and metabolite profiles define genes and pathways that showed shared and divergent responses to salinity stress in the two species. Shared responses are exemplified by 40% of the regulated genes functioning in confining ribosomal functions, photosynthesis and cell growth, as well as activating osmolyte production, transport activities and abscisic acid-dependent pathways. An additional 60% of regulated genes distinguished Thellungiella from Arabidopsis. Analysis of the differences showed that Arabidopsis exhibited a global defense strategy that required bulk protein synthesis, while Thellungiella induced genes functioning in protein folding, post-translational modification and protein redistribution. At 150 mm NaCl, Thellungiella maintained unimpeded growth. Transcript intensity analyses and metabolite profiles supported the microarray results, pointing towards a stress-anticipatory preparedness in Thellungiella.

Recent advances in engineering plant tolerance to abiotic stress: achievements and limitations

Abiotic stresses, especially salinity and drought, are the primary causes of crop loss worldwide. Plant adaptation to environmental stresses is dependent upon the activation of cascades of molecular networks involved in stress perception, signal transduction, and the expression of specific stress-related genes and metabolites. Consequently, engineering genes that protect and maintain the function and structure of cellular components can enhance tolerance to stress. Our limited knowledge of stress-associated metabolism remains a major gap in our understanding; therefore, comprehensive profiling of stress-associated metabolites is most relevant to the successful molecular breeding of stress-tolerant crop plants. Unraveling additional stress-associated gene resources, from both crop plants and highly salt- and drought-tolerant model plants, will enable future molecular dissection of salt-tolerance mechanisms in important crop plants.

Differential impact of environmental stresses on the pea mitochondrial proteome

Exposure to adverse environmental conditions causes oxidative stress in many organisms, leading either to disease and debilitation or to response and tolerance. Mitochondria are a key site of oxidative stress and of cellular response and play important roles in cell survival. We analyzed the response of mitochondria in pea (Pisum sativum) plants to the common stresses associated with drought, cold, and herbicides. These treatments all altered photosynthetic and respiratory rates of pea leaves to various extents, but only herbicides significantly increased lipid peroxidation product accumulation. Mitochondria isolated from the stressed pea plants maintained their electron transport chain activity, but changes were evident in the abundance of uncoupling proteins, non-phosphorylating respiratory pathways, and oxidative modification of lipoic acid moieties on mitochondrial proteins. These data suggest that herbicide treatment placed a severe oxidative stress on mitochondria, whereas chilling and particularly drought were milder stresses. Detailed analysis of the soluble proteome of mitochondria by gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry revealed differential degradation of key matrix enzymes during treatments with chilling being significantly more damaging than drought. Differential induction of heat shock proteins and specific losses of other proteins illustrated the diversity of response to these stresses at the protein level. Cross-species matching was required for mass spectrometry identification of nine proteins because only a limited number of pea cDNAs have been sequenced, and the full pea genome is not available. Blue-native separation of intact respiratory chain complexes revealed little if any change in response to environmental stresses. Together these data suggest that although many of the molecular events identified by chemical stresses of mitochondria from a range of model eukaryotes are also apparent during environmental stress of plants, their extent and significance can vary substantially.

Quantitative inference of dynamic regulatory pathways via microarray data

Background

The cellular signaling pathway (network) is one of the main topics of organismic investigations. The intracellular interactions between genes in a signaling pathway are considered as the foundation of functional genomics. Thus, what genes and how much they influence each other through transcriptional binding or physical interactions are essential problems. Under the synchronous measures of gene expression via a microarray chip, an amount of dynamic information is embedded and remains to be discovered. Using a systematically dynamic modeling approach, we explore the causal relationship among genes in cellular signaling pathways from the system biology approach.

Results

In this study, a second-order dynamic model is developed to describe the regulatory mechanism of a target gene from the upstream causality point of view. From the expression profile and dynamic model of a target gene, we can estimate its upstream regulatory function. According to this upstream regulatory function, we would deduce the upstream regulatory genes with their regulatory abilities and activation delays, and then link up a regulatory pathway. Iteratively, these regulatory genes are considered as target genes to trace back their upstream regulatory genes. Then we could construct the regulatory pathway (or network) to the genome wide. In short, we can infer the genetic regulatory pathways from gene-expression profiles quantitatively, which can confirm some doubted paths or seek some unknown paths in a regulatory pathway (network). Finally, the proposed approach is validated by randomly reshuffling the time order of microarray data.

Conclusion

We focus our algorithm on the inference of regulatory abilities of the identified causal genes, and how much delay before they regulate the downstream genes. With this information, a regulatory pathway would be built up using microarray data. In the present study, two signaling pathways, i.e. circadian regulatory pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana and metabolic shift pathway from fermentation to respiration in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, are reconstructed using microarray data to evaluate the performance of our proposed method. In the circadian regulatory pathway, we identified mainly the interactions between the biological clock and the photoperiodic genes consistent with the known regulatory mechanisms. We also discovered the now less-known regulations between crytochrome and phytochrome. In the metabolic shift pathway, the casual relationship of enzymatic genes could be detected properly.

Physcomitrella patens is highly tolerant against drought, salt and osmotic stress

In order to determine the degree of tolerance of the moss Physcomitrella patens to different abiotic stress conditions, we examined its tolerance against salt, osmotic and dehydration stress. Compared to other plants like Arabidopsis thaliana, P. patens exhibits a high degree of abiotic stress tolerance, making it a valuable source for the identification of genes effecting the stress adaptation. Plants that had been treated with NaCl tolerated concentrations up to 350 mM. Treatments with sorbitol revealed that plants are able to survive concentrations up to 500 mM. Furthermore, plants that had lost 92% water on a fresh-weight basis were able to recover successfully. For molecular analyses, a P. patens expressed sequence tag (EST) database was searched for cDNA sequences showing homology to stress-associated genes of seed plants and bacteria. 45 novel P. patens genes were identified and subjected to cDNA macroarray analyses to define their expression pattern in response to water deficit. Among the selected cDNAs, we were able to identify a set of genes that is specifically up-regulated upon dehydration. These genes encode proteins exerting their function in maintaining the integrity of the plant cell as well as proteins that are known to be members of signaling networks. The identified genes will serve as molecular markers and potential targets for future functional analyses.

Monitoring the expression profiles of genes induced by hyperosmotic, high salinity, and oxidative stress and abscisic acid treatment in Arabidopsis cell culture using a full-length cDNA microarray

Transcriptional regulation in response to hyperosmotic, high-salinity and oxidative stress, and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment in Arabidopsis suspension-cultured cell line T87 was investigated with a cDNA microarray containing 7000 independent full-length Arabidopsis cDNAs. The transcripts of 102, 11, 84 and 73 genes were increased more than 5-fold within 5h after treatment with 0.5M mannitol, 0.1M NaCl, 50 microM ABA and 10mM H2O2, respectively. On the other hand, the transcripts of 44, 57, 25 and 34 genes were down-regulated to less than one-third within 5h after treatment with 0.5M mannitol, 0.1M NaCl, 50 microM ABA and 10mM H2O2, respectively. Venn diagram analysis revealed 11 genes were induced significantly by mannitol, NaCl, and ABA, indicating crosstalk among these signaling pathways. Comparison of the genes induced by each stress revealed that 32%, 17% and 33% of mannitol-, NaCl- and ABA-inducible genes were also induced by H2O2, indicating the crosstalk between the signaling pathways for osmotic stress and oxidative stress. Although the expression profiles revealed that the T87 cells had most of the regulatory systems seen in Arabidopsis seedlings, the T87 cells did not have one of ABA-dependent signaling pathways.

Isolation and functional analysis of Arabidopsis stress-inducible NAC transcription factors that bind to a drought-responsive cis-element in the early responsive to dehydration stress 1 promoter

The MYC-like sequence CATGTG plays an important role in the dehydration-inducible expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana EARLY RESPONSIVE TO DEHYDRATION STRESS 1 (ERD1) gene, which encodes a ClpA (ATP binding subunit of the caseinolytic ATP-dependent protease) homologous protein. Using the yeast one-hybrid system, we isolated three cDNA clones encoding proteins that bind to the 63-bp promoter region of erd1, which contains the CATGTG motif. These three cDNA clones encode proteins named ANAC019, ANAC055, and ANAC072, which belong to the NAC transcription factor family. The NAC proteins bound specifically to the CATGTG motif both in vitro and in vivo and activated the transcription of a beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene driven by the 63-bp region containing the CATGTG motif in Arabidopsis T87 protoplasts. The expression of ANAC019, ANAC055, and ANAC072 was induced by drought, high salinity, and abscisic acid. A histochemical assay using P(NAC)-GUS fusion constructs showed that expression of the GUS reporter gene was localized mainly to the leaves of transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Using the yeast one-hybrid system, we determined the complete NAC recognition sequence, containing CATGT and harboring CACG as the core DNA binding site. Microarray analysis of transgenic plants overexpressing either ANAC019, ANAC055, or ANAC072 revealed that several stress-inducible genes were upregulated in the transgenic plants, and the plants showed significantly increased drought tolerance. However, erd1 was not upregulated in the transgenic plants. Other interacting factors may be necessary for the induction of erd1 in Arabidopsis under stress conditions.

Applied environmental stresses to enhance the levels of polyphenolics in leaves of hawthorn plants

In this investigation, two species of Crataegus (hawthorn) were chosen because their polyphenolic constituents have recently received greater attention for the treatment of patients with severe heart disease. One-year-old plants of hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata and C. monogyna) were subjected to water-deficit (continuous water deprivation), cold (4 degrees C), flooding (immersion of roots of plants in water) or herbivory (leaf removal) stress treatments (each of 10 days duration) in order to assess their effects on levels of polyphenolics, namely (-)-epicatechin, catechin, chlorogenic acid, vitexin, vitexin-2"-O-rhamnoside, acetylvitexin-2"-O-rhamnoside, hyperoside, quercetin, and rutin in the leaves. The working hypothesis followed is that one or more of these stress treatment will elicit increases in the levels of these polyphenolics. Cold stress causes increases in levels of vitexin-2"-O-rhamnoside, acetylvitexin-2"-O-rhamnoside, hyperoside, and quercetin in both Crataegus species. Water-deficit stress increased the productivity of chlorogenic acid, catechin, and (-)-epicatechin in both hawthorn species. Flooding and herbivory caused no net increases, and in some cases, decreases in levels of polyphenolics. These studies indicate that either water-deficit stress or cold stress treatments, or a combination of the two, can be used to enhance the levels of desired polyphenolics in the leaves of these two hawthorn species in a photobioreactor system. These results may have significance for hawthorn in adapting to water-deficit or cold stress and are important considerations for the use of hawthorn in the treatment of heart disease in humans.

Freezing tolerance of plants: current understanding and selected emerging concepts

The formation of ice on and inside plant tissues represents a major challenge to survival. The resulting phase transition and spatial redistribution of liquid water from inside the cell to extracellular ice results in physical changes to cells and enormous physical stresses and strains. The ability of higher plants to acclimate and tolerate freezing stress is a complex quantitative trait and the product of the activities of not one, but a sizable suite of genes. Many of the known cold-regulated genes are under the control of a primary master regulator, CBF/DREB1, but it is not likely to be the sole master regulator. In considering the origin of freezing tolerance in higher plants, it has been suggested that freezing tolerance likely arose by adopting drought tolerance mechanisms. This may explain why many genes responsive to cold stress are also responsive to drought and (or) other osmotic stresses.Key words: abiotic, dehydration, gene expression, physiology, signal transduction, transcriptome.