Abstract
When Arabidopsis is exposed to low temperature a small gene family encoding transcription factors known as CBF1, CBF2, and CBF3 (also referred to as DREB1b, DREB1c, and DREB1a, respectively) is rapidly induced followed by expression of CBF-targeted genes, the CBF regulon, which act to bring about an increase in freezing tolerance. The CBF1, 2 and 3 proteins, though highly similar in amino acid sequence, are not identical, raising the question of whether the proteins have the same functions. Here we explored this issue by comparing the effects that overexpression of each CBF gene had on Arabidopsis growth and development, proline and sugar composition, freezing tolerance and gene expression. Taken together, the results support the conclusion that the CBF1, 2 and 3 transcriptional activators have redundant functional activities.
MeSH Terms
Adaptation, Physiological/genetics
Arabidopsis/genetics,growth & development,metabolism
Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics,metabolism
Blotting, Northern
DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics,metabolism
Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
Flowers/genetics,growth & development,metabolism
Freezing
Fructose/metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Glucose/metabolism
Glycoside Hydrolases/metabolism
Microscopy, Confocal
Phenotype
Plants, Genetically Modified
Proline/metabolism
Sucrose/metabolism
Trans-Activators/genetics,metabolism
Transcription Factors/genetics,metabolism
Chemicals
Arabidopsis Proteins
CBF1 protein, Arabidopsis
CBF2 protein, Arabidopsis
DNA-Binding Proteins
DREB1A protein, Arabidopsis
Trans-Activators
Transcription Factors
Fructose
Sucrose
Proline
Glycoside Hydrolases
raffinase
Glucose
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Gilmour Sarah J
MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Fowler Sarah G
Thomashow Michael F
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