ERFVII transcription factors and their role in the adaptation to hypoxia in Arabidopsis and crops

Abstract

In this review, we focus on ethylene transcription factors (ERFs), which are a crucial family of transcription factors that regulate plant development and stress responses. ERFVII transcription factors have been identified and studied in several crop species, including rice, wheat, maize, barley, and soybean. These transcription factors are known to be involved in regulating the plant’s response to low oxygen stress—hypoxia and could thus improve crop yields under suboptimal growing conditions. In rice (Oryza sativa) several ERFVII genes have been identified and characterized, including SUBMERGENCE 1A (SUB1A), which enables rice to tolerate submergence. The SUB1A gene was used in the development of SUB1 rice varieties, which are now widely grown in flood-prone areas and have been shown to improve yields and farmer livelihoods. The oxygen sensor in plants was discovered using the model plant Arabidopsis. The mechanism is based on the destabilization of ERFVII protein via the N-degron pathway under aerobic conditions. During hypoxia, the stabilized ERFVIIs translocate to the nucleus where they activate the transcription of hypoxia-responsive genes (HRGs). In summary, the identification and characterization of ERFVII transcription factors and their mechanism of action could lead to the development of new crop varieties with improved tolerance to low oxygen stress, which could have important implications for global food security.

Flooding stress and responses to hypoxia in plants

“…While the molecular mechanisms of O 2 sensing in hypoxic conditions are well-described in Arabidopsis (e.g. reviewed in Le ón et al 2021;Loreti and Perata 2023;Renziehausen et al 2024), further research is needed on the specific signalling pathways and the molecular regulation of traits conferring hypoxia tolerance, as well as their functional characterisation and translation of such resources into flooding-sensitive crops. Excitingly, excellent examples of the use of molecular tools characterising genes responsive to hypoxia, tissue metabolic responses to hypoxia, tissue O 2 status, anatomical changes facilitating effective O 2 diffusion, and whole-plant responses to waterlogging, partial or complete submergence, or a combination of flooding with other stress conditions are well described in this Collection on 'Flooding stress and responses to hypoxia in plants'.…”

Morphological and molecular response mechanisms of the root system of different Hemarthria compressa species to submergence stress

“…Involved in a variety of biological processes such as plant growth, development and immune ( Song et al., 2022 ). Sub1a belongs to the ERFVII transcription factor genes that regulate ERFVII protein activation to transcribe hypoxia-responsive genes during plant hypoxia ( Loreti and Perata, 2023 ). In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the ERFVII transcription factor was found to promote the establishment of an ethylene-negatively regulated AR system, which inhibits the growth of the primary root system and promotes AR elongation in response to hypoxic stress ( Eysholdt-Derzsó and Sauter, 2019 ).…”

Genotype-environment association across precipitation regimens reveals the mechanism of plant adaptation to rainy environments

“…The primary strategy is to switch from oxidative phosphorylation, which requires oxygen, to anaerobic metabolism to generate the energy required 20 . This process involves a finely tuned oxygen-dependent modulation of gene expression where one of the key pathways is the ethylene signaling pathway mediated by ERF-VII transcription factors (GROUP VII ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTORS) 21 . Under aerobic conditions, ERF-VIIs are constitutively oxidised by a class of plant enzymes named PLANT CYSTEINE OXIDASES (PCOs), which target the ERF-VII transcription factors to degradation via the proteasome 22,23 , following the Cys branch of the N-degron pathway 24,25 .…”