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Expression of a transcription factor (FsERF1) involved in ethylene signalling during the breaking of dormancy in Fagus sylvatica seeds
Author(s) -
Jiménez Jesús Angel,
Rodríguez Dolores,
Calvo Angel Pablo,
Mortensen Lars Christian,
Nicolás Gregorio,
Nicolás Carlos
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.2005.00571.x
Subject(s) - abscisic acid , ethephon , aminooxyacetic acid , biology , ethylene , dormancy , wrky protein domain , gene , biochemistry , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , germination , transcriptome , enzyme , catalysis
By means of reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction, using degenerate oligonucleotides conserved among ethylene‐responsive transcription factors, we have isolated and characterized a cDNA clone encoding a protein involved in ethylene signalling during the breaking of dormancy in Fagus sylvatica L. seeds. This clone, named FsERF1, exhibits high homology to ethylene‐responsive factors (ERFs) from several plant species. The expression of FsERF1 as a fusion protein in Escherichia coli confirmed that it was able to bind to the GCC box, a cis element present in the promoters of several ethylene‐responsive genes, corroborating its role as a DNA‐binding protein. Northern analysis showed that the transcript levels increased when dormancy was broken by ethephon (an ethylene‐releasing compound), or by moist prechilling pretreatment at restricted water content, and were almost undetectable when seeds remained dormant by the addition of abscisic acid, aminooxyacetic acid (an ethylene biosynthesis inhibitor) or warm pretreatment, and when seeds were artificially dried, suggesting that FsERF1 function may be more closely related with the transition from seed dormancy to germination than with responses to drought stress mediated by ethylene.