Increased tolerance of rice to cold, drought and oxidative stresses mediated by the overexpression of a gene that encodes the zinc finger protein ZFP245

ZFP245 is a cold- and drought-responsive gene that encodes a zinc finger protein in rice. The ZFP245 protein localizes in the nucleus and exhibits trans-activation activity. Transgenic rice plants overexpressing ZFP245 were generated and found to display high tolerance to cold and drought stresses. The transgenic plants did not exhibit growth retardation, but showed growth sensitivity against exogenous abscisic acid, increased free proline levels and elevated expression of rice pyrroline-5-carboxylatesynthetase and proline transporter genes under stress conditions. Overproduction of ZFP245 enhanced the activities of reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzymes under stress conditions and increased the tolerance of rice seedlings to oxidative stress. Our data suggest that ZFP245 may contribute to the tolerance of rice plants to cold and drought stresses by regulating proline levels and reactive oxygen species-scavenging activities, and therefore may be useful for developing transgenic crops with enhanced tolerance to abiotic stress.     

Overexpression of a TFIIIA-type zinc finger protein gene ZFP252 enhances drought and salt tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

We previously identified a salt and drought stress-responsive TFIIIA-type zinc finger protein gene ZFP252 from rice. Here we report the functional analysis of ZFP252 using gain- and loss-of-function strategies. We found that overexpression of ZFP252 in rice increased the amount of free proline and soluble sugars, elevated the expression of stress defense genes and enhanced rice tolerance to salt and drought stresses, as compared with ZFP252 antisense and non-transgenic plants. Our findings suggest that ZFP252 plays an important role in rice response to salt and drought stresses and is useful in engineering crop plants with enhanced tolerance to salt and drought stresses.     

Differential expression profiles of poplar MAP kinase kinases in response to abiotic stresses and plant hormones,and overexpression of PtMKK4 improves the drought tolerance of poplar

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are universal signal transduction modules that play essential roles in plant growth, development and stress response. MAPK kinases (MAPKKs), which link MAPKs and MAPKK kinases (MAPKKKs), are integral in mediating various stress responses in plants. However, to date few data about the roles of poplar MAPKKs in stress signal transduction are available. In this study, we performed a systemic analysis of poplar MAPKK gene family expression profiles in response to several abiotic stresses and stress-associated hormones. Furthermore, Populus trichocarpa MAPKK4 (PtMKK4) was chosen for functional characterization. Transgenic analysis showed that overexpression of the PtMKK4 gene remarkably enhanced drought stress tolerance in the transgenic poplar plants. The PtMKK4-overexpressing plants also exhibited much lower levels of H₂O₂ and higher antioxidant enzyme activity after exposure to drought stress compared to the wide type lines. Besides, some drought marker genes including PtP5CS, PtSUS3, PtLTP3 and PtDREB8 exhibited higher expression levels in the transgenic lines than in the wide type under drought conditions. This study provided valuable information for understanding the putative functions of poplar MAPKKs involved in important signaling pathways under different stress conditions.