Organization and expression of two Arabidopsis DREB2 genes encoding DRE-binding proteins involved in dehydration- and high-salinity-responsive gene expression

In plants, a cis-acting element, DRE/CRT, is involved in ABA-independent gene expression in response to dehydration and low-temperature stress. To understand signal transduction pathways from perception of the dehydration stress signal to gene expression, we characterized a gene family for DRE/CRT-binding proteins DREB2A and DREB2B in Arabidopsis thaliana. Northern analysis showed that both genes are induced by dehydration and high-salt stress. Organ-specific northern analysis with gene-specific probes showed that these genes are strongly induced in roots by high-salt stress and in stems and roots by dehydration stress. The DREB2A gene is located on chromosome 5, and DREB2B on chromosome 3. We screened an Arabidopsis genomic DNA library with cDNA fragments of DREB2A and DREB2B as probes, and isolated DNA fragments that contained 5-flanking regions of these genes. Sequence analysis showed that both genes are interrupted by a single intron at identical positions in their leader sequence. Several conserved sequences were found in the promoter regions of both genes. The -glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene driven by the DREB2 promoters was induced by dehydration and high-salt stress in transgenic Arabidopsis plants.     

盐芥ThDREB2B基因克隆及功能分析

利用RACE技术从抗逆模式植物盐芥中克隆获得了1个DREB(dehydration responsive element binding)类转录因子基因,命名为ThDREB2B(NCBI登录号EF653377)。结果表明:(1)ThDREB2B基因cDNA全长1 486bp,包含1个954bp的开放阅读框,编码316个氨基酸;推测编码的蛋白质分子量约36.0kD,等电点为4.81,第76～135位氨基酸构成1个AP2结构域。(2)系统进化分析表明,ThDREB2B属于DREB亚家族的A-2亚组,与拟南芥AtDREB2B基因遗传距离最近。(3)半定量RT-PCR检测显示,ThDREB2B基因在正常生长条件下低丰度表达,在低温、干旱或高盐胁迫下上调表达。(4)酵母单杂交结果表明,ThDREB2B蛋白能与DRE元件特异结合,但转录激活能力弱。推测ThDREB2B蛋白可能需要翻译后修饰以获得转录激活功能。