A novel cold-inducible zinc finger protein from soybean, SCOF-1, enhances cold tolerance in transgenic plants. Plant J 2001 Feb;25(3):247-59
Date
02/24/2001Pubmed ID
11208017DOI
10.1046/j.1365-313x.2001.00947.xScopus ID
2-s2.0-0035119073 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 269 CitationsAbstract
Cold stress on plants induces changes in the transcription of cold response genes. A cDNA clone encoding C2H2-type zinc finger protein, SCOF-1, was isolated from soybean. The transcription of SCOF-1 is specifically induced by low temperature and abscisic acid (ABA) but not by dehydration or high salinity. Constitutive overexpression of SCOF-1 induced cold-regulated (COR) gene expression and enhanced cold tolerance of non-acclimated transgenic Arabidopsis and tobacco plants. SCOF-1 localized to the nucleus but did not bind directly to either C-repeat/dehydration (CRT/DRE) or ABA responsive element (ABRE), cis-acting DNA regulatory elements present in COR gene promoters. However, SCOF-1 greatly enhanced the DNA binding activity of SGBF-1, a soybean G-box binding bZIP transcription factor, to ABRE in vitro. SCOF-1 also interacted with SGBF-1 in a yeast two-hybrid system. The SGBF-1 transactivated the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene driven by the ABRE element in Arabidopsis leaf protoplasts. Furthermore, the SCOF-1 enhanced ABRE-dependent gene expression mediated by SGBF-1. These results suggest that SCOF-1 may function as a positive regulator of COR gene expression mediated by ABRE via protein-protein interaction, which in turn enhances cold tolerance of plants.
Author List
Kim JC, Lee SH, Cheong YH, Yoo CM, Lee SI, Chun HJ, Yun DJ, Hong JC, Lee SY, Lim CO, Cho MJAuthor
Sang H. Lee PhD Professor in the Pharmacology and Toxicology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Abscisic AcidAdaptation, Physiological
Amino Acid Sequence
Base Sequence
Cell Nucleus
Cold Temperature
DNA Primers
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Genes, Reporter
Glucuronidase
Heat-Shock Proteins
Molecular Sequence Data
Plant Proteins
Plants, Genetically Modified
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Transcription Factors
Transcriptional Activation
Zinc Fingers