scholarly journals Functional Identification of a C-repeat Binding Factor Transcriptional Activator from Blueberry Associated with Cold Acclimation and Freezing Tolerance

2010 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Polashock ◽  
Rajeev Arora ◽  
Yanhui Peng ◽  
Dhananjay Naik ◽  
Lisa J. Rowland

Highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is susceptible to winter freezing injury and frost damage in the spring. As part of an ongoing project to understand the process of cold acclimation, we isolated a C-repeat binding factor (CBF) transcriptional activator gene-coding region from the highbush blueberry cultivar Bluecrop. Expression of the highbush blueberry CBF gene was compared in floral buds of the cold-tolerant northern highbush cultivar Bluecrop and the more cold-sensitive southern rabbiteye (V. virgatum) blueberry cultivar Tifblue. Relative gene expression was higher in ‘Bluecrop’ than in ‘Tifblue’. Expression in both cultivars was highest at the earliest time point in the fall (coincident with the first stage of cold acclimation), declined during the later fall and winter, and, in ‘Bluecrop’, increased again as buds deacclimated, when temperatures tend to fluctuate. To confirm the putative identity of the gene as a member of the CBF gene family, and to determine if expression in a heterologous system could enhance freezing tolerance, the blueberry gene coding sequence was overexpressed in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana under the control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter. Transgenic plants expressing the putative blueberry CBF gene exhibited induced expression of the A. thaliana cold-regulated (COR) genes COR78 and COR6.6, under non-inducing conditions (i.e., 23 °C); however, expression of two other COR genes was unaffected. Transgenic plants also exhibited enhanced freezing tolerance under non-acclimated conditions, but not to the level of acclimated control plants. Thus, the expression pattern in floral buds and the ability of the isolated gene to turn on a subset of COR genes and increase freezing tolerance in a heterologous system suggest it is a functional member of the CBF gene family in blueberry.

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 1109-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mervi M. Seppänen ◽  
Ville Alitalo ◽  
Hanna K. Bäckström ◽  
Kirsi Mäkiniemi ◽  
Venla Jokela ◽  
...  

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most popular forage legume crops worldwide. Its cultivation in the boreal and sub-boreal zone is restricted by inadequate winter hardiness, but global warming may increase its adaptability in these latitudes. Here, we examined variation in growth and freezing tolerance of four alfalfa cultivars recommended for the northern temperate climates of Europe (Alexis, Lavo, Live, and Nexus) and two cultivars with adaptation to milder or Mediterranean climates (Rangelander and Hunter River). Two experiments under controlled conditions (growth cessation and cold acclimation experiments) along with a 2-yr field experiment were conducted. Lavo was the most freezing-tolerant cultivar in both the cold acclimation and field experiments. Both Rangelander and Hunter River showed poor freezing tolerance. Lavo responded to decreasing temperatures, unlike the response to shorter day length, by allocating biomass to the roots. In general, better freezing tolerance was associated with high total nonstructural carbohydrate and low starch content. The field experiment results revealed that the more freezing-tolerant cultivars may have some advantages regarding yield, especially in the second year, but the differences between the cultivars were modest.


HortScience ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 859-864
Author(s):  
Yang Yang ◽  
Runfang Zhang ◽  
Pingsheng Leng ◽  
Zenghui Hu ◽  
Man Shen

The evergreen Ligustrum lucidum (glossy privet) suffers from freezing injury in northern China, where there are short growing seasons and early fall frost events. To investigate the influence of exogenous salicylic acid (SA) application on the natural cold acclimation of glossy privet, physiological and biochemical changes in glossy privet seedlings subjected to SA treatments at four concentrations (0, 150, 250, and 350 mg·L−1) were evaluated from Sept. to Dec. 2016. The optimum application concentrations were between 250 and 350 mg·L−1, which led to better freezing tolerance during natural cold acclimation. The improved freezing tolerance under exogenous SA application was associated with the accumulation of chlorophyll, proline, soluble protein, and soluble sugar, and the regulations of gibberellic acid (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA). Salicylic acid treatments started a cascade of steps for advancing the cold acclimation process of glossy privet. We suggest that exogenous SA application may be used on glossy privet grown in northern China.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6608
Author(s):  
Krishna Poudel ◽  
Xiang Luo ◽  
Lina Chen ◽  
Dan Jing ◽  
Xiaocong Xia ◽  
...  

Sucrose, an important sugar, is transported from source to sink tissues through the phloem, and plays important role in the development of important traits in plants. However, the SUT gene family is still not well characterized in pomegranate. In this study, we first identified the pomegranate sucrose transporter (SUT) gene family from the whole genome. Then, the phylogenetic relationship of SUT genes, gene structure and their promoters were analyzed. Additionally, their expression patterns were detected during the development of the seed. Lastly, genetic transformation and cytological observation were used to study the function of PgL0145810.1. A total of ten pomegranate SUT genes were identified from the whole genome of pomegranate ‘Tunisia’. The promoter region of all the pomegranate SUT genes contained myeloblastosis (MYB) elements. Four of the SUT genes, PgL0328370.1, PgL0099690.1, PgL0145810.1 and PgL0145770.1, were differentially expressed during seed development. We further noticed that PgL0145810.1 was expressed most prominently in the stem parts in transgenic plants compared to other tissue parts (leaves, flowers and silique). The cells in the xylem vessels were small and lignin content was lower in the transgenic plants as compared to wild Arabidopsis plants. In general, our result suggests that the MYB cis-elements in the promoter region might regulate PgL0145810.1 expression to control the structure of xylem, thereby affecting seed hardness in pomegranate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5899 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Augustyniak ◽  
Izabela Pawłowicz ◽  
Katarzyna Lechowicz ◽  
Karolina Izbiańska-Jankowska ◽  
Magdalena Arasimowicz-Jelonek ◽  
...  

Though winter-hardiness is a complex trait, freezing tolerance was proved to be its main component. Species from temperate regions acquire tolerance to freezing in a process of cold acclimation, which is associated with the exposure of plants to low but non-freezing temperatures. However, mechanisms of cold acclimation in Lolium-Festuca grasses, important for forage production in Europe, have not been fully recognized. Thus, two L. multiflorum/F. arundinacea introgression forms with distinct freezing tolerance were used herein as models in the comprehensive research to dissect these mechanisms in that group of plants. The work was focused on: (i) analysis of cellular membranes’ integrity; (ii) analysis of plant photosynthetic capacity (chlorophyll fluorescence; gas exchange; gene expression, protein accumulation, and activity of selected enzymes of the Calvin cycle); (iii) analysis of plant antioxidant capacity (reactive oxygen species generation; gene expression, protein accumulation, and activity of selected enzymes); and (iv) analysis of Cor14b accumulation, under cold acclimation. The more freezing tolerant introgression form revealed a higher integrity of membranes, an ability to cold acclimate its photosynthetic apparatus and higher water use efficiency after three weeks of cold acclimation, as well as a higher capacity of the antioxidant system and a lower content of reactive oxygen species in low temperature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 2744-2757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sung Mi Cho ◽  
Sanghee Kim ◽  
Hojin Cho ◽  
Hyoungseok Lee ◽  
Jun Hyuck Lee ◽  
...  

Abstract Microalgal ice-binding proteins (IBPs) in the polar region are poorly understood at the genome-wide level, although they are important for cold adaptation. Through the transcriptome study with the Arctic green alga Chloromonas sp. KNF0032, we identified six Chloromonas IBP genes (CmIBPs), homologous with the previously reported IBPs from Antarctic snow alga CCMP681 and Antarctic Chloromonas sp. They were organized with multiple exon/intron structures and low-temperature-responsive cis-elements in their promoters and abundantly expressed at low temperature. The biological functions of three representative CmIBPs (CmIBP1, CmIBP2 and CmIBP3) were tested using in vitro analysis and transgenic plant system. CmIBP1 had the most effective ice recrystallization inhibition (IRI) activities in both in vitro and transgenic plants, and CmIBP2 and CmIBP3 had followed. All transgenic plants grown under nonacclimated condition were freezing tolerant, and especially 35S::CmIBP1 plants were most effective. After cold acclimation, only 35S::CmIBP2 plants showed slightly increased freezing tolerance. Structurally, the CmIBPs were predicted to have β-solenoid forms with parallel β-sheets and repeated TXT motifs. The repeated TXT structure of CmIBPs appears similar to the AidA domain-containing adhesin-like proteins from methanogens. We have shown that the AidA domain has IRI activity as CmIBPs and phylogenetic analysis also supported that the AidA domains are monophyletic with ice-binding domain of CmIBPs, and these results suggest that CmIBPs are a type of modified adhesins.


2015 ◽  
Vol 155 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vítor da Silveira Falavigna ◽  
Yohanna Evelyn Miotto ◽  
Diogo Denardi Porto ◽  
Rafael Anzanello ◽  
Henrique Pessoa dos Santos ◽  
...  

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