Overexpression of maize ZmDBP3 enhances tolerance to drought and cold stress in transgenic Arabidopsis plants

Abstract

C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding factors (CBF/DREBs), belonging to the AP2/ERF superfamily, play a vital regulatory role in abiotic stress responses in plants. The ZmDBP3 gene, a member of the A-1 subgroup of the CBF/DREB subfamily, was isolated from maize seedlings. The predicted ZmDBP3 protein contained a putative nuclear localization signal and an activation region. As a trans-acting factor, the ZmDBP3 protein accumulated in the nucleus in a subcellular localization assay, and activated CRT/DRE-containing genes under normal growth conditions in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. ZmDBP3 transcription was highly activated by cold and moderately by salt. Overexpression of ZmDBP3 improved drought and cold stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. These results suggested that ZmDBP3 produces a CRT/DRE-binding transcription factor and may have an important role in improving drought and cold tolerance in plants.

Genome-wide analysis of AP2/ERF Transcription Factors in sugarcane Saccharum spontaneum L. Reveals Functional Divergence During Drought, Salt Stress and Plant Hormones Treatment

“…For example, OsEREBP1 and OsEREBP2 modulate the expression of OsRMC, a negative regulator of rice salt stress [21]. Overexpression of maize ZmDBP3 enhances tolerance of transgenic Arabidopsis to drought and cold stress [22]. In contrast, overexpression of the WIN 1 gene from sorghum confers drought resistance to Arabidopsis by regulating the biosynthesis of the epidermis [23].…”

Transcriptional Network Involved in Drought Response and Adaptation in Cereals

“…Intensive research in recent years has shown that temporal and spatial modulation of stress-related TFs provides an efficient way for plants to deal with unfavourable growth conditions. TFs involved in drought response were identified and characterized in various cereal species, including all major food crops such as in rice [1][2][3][4], wheat [5][6][7][8], barley [9,10], and maize [11,12]. Overexpression of several target genes encoding stress-responsive TFs led to improved survival rate under water limitation in transgenic plants [4,10,[12][13][14].…”

Improvement of drought and salt tolerance in Arabidopsis and Lotus corniculatus by overexpression of a novel DREB transcription factor from Populus euphratica

“…Overexpression of HvDREB1 (Hordeum vulgare) activated a downstream gene rd29A and increased salt tolerance in Arabidopsis plants (Xu et al, 2009). Overexpression of ZmDBP3 (dehydration-responsive element binding protein) improved drought and cold stress tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants (Wang and Dong, 2009). Overexpression of CkDBF (Caragana korshinskii dehydration-responsive element binding factor) in transgenic tobacco plants resulted in higher tolerance to high salinity and osmotic stresses and induction of a downstream target gene (Wang et al, 2010).…”