Role of an Arabidopsis AP2/EREBP-Type Transcriptional Repressor in Abscisic Acid and Drought Stress Responses

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) modulates the expression of many genes important to plant growth and development and to stress adaptation. In this study, we found that an APETALA2/EREBP-type transcription factor, AtERF7, plays an important role in ABA responses. AtERF7 interacts with the protein kinase PKS3, which has been shown to be a global regulator of ABA responses. AtERF7 binds to the GCC box and acts as a repressor of gene transcription. AtERF7 interacts with the Arabidopsis thaliana homolog of a human global corepressor of transcription, AtSin3, which in turn may interact with HDA19, a histone deacetylase. The transcriptional repression activity of AtERF7 is enhanced by HDA19 and AtSin3. Arabidopsis plants overexpressing AtERF7 show reduced sensitivity of guard cells to ABA and increased transpirational water loss. By contrast, AtERF7 and AtSin3 RNA interference lines show increased sensitivity to ABA during germination. Together, our results suggest that AtERF7 plays an important role in ABA responses and may be part of a transcriptional repressor complex and be regulated by PKS3.