Improvement of freezing tolerance in tobacco plants expressing a cold-responsive and chloroplast-targeting protein WCOR15 of wheat

Cold acclimation, an adaptive process for developing freezing tolerance in over-wintering plants, is associated with increased expression levels of a series of cold-responsive (Cor)/late embryogenesis abundant (Lea) genes. To investigate the function of Wcor15, a member of the wheat Cor/Lea gene family, for improvement of freezing tolerance, two types of transgenic tobacco lines expressing Wcor15-containing chimeric genes were produced and characterized. Immunoblot and gene expression analyses of a transgenic tobacco line expressing the Wcor15-GFP fusion gene under control of the CaMV35S promoter showed transport and abundant accumulation of the WCOR15 protein in the stromal compartment of the chloroplasts. The 5' upstream region of Wcor15 induced expression of the GFP reporter gene under low-temperature conditions in the transgenic tobacco. Both transgenic lines expressing the Wcor15-GFP fusion gene showed a similar and significantly improved level of freezing tolerance compared with the wild-type tobacco plants. Our results demonstrate that the induced expression of the wheat Wcor15 gene positively contributes to the development of freezing tolerance in the heterologous tobacco plants.     

拟南芥非生物胁迫应答基因表达的调节子研究概况

分子生物学研究表明,植物中由诸如干旱、高盐和低温等环境胁迫因子诱导的几个基因具有多种功能。大多数干旱应答基因是由植物激素脱落酸（ABA）诱导的,但也有少数基因例外。对模式植物拟南芥基因表达中的干旱应答基因的分析表明,至少存在4个独立调节系统（调节子）。对典型胁迫诱导表达的一些基因中启动子的顺势作用元件和影响这些基因表达的转录子也已进行了分析。已经分离出与脱水效应元件/C重复序列（DRE/CRT）顺势作用元件结合的转录因子,并命名为DRE结合蛋白1/C重复序列结合因子（DREB1/CBF）和DRE结合蛋白2（DREB2）。在转基因拟南芥植株中,DREB1/CBF过量表达可增加其抗寒、抗旱和抗盐碱的能力。DREB1/CBF基因已成功地在许多不同作物中得到应用,从而提高作物对非生物胁迫的耐受性。与胁迫反应相关的其他转录因子的研究也正在取得进展。