These authors contributed equally to this work.
SUMMARYEthylene Response Factors (ERFs) are downstream components of the ethylene signal transduction pathway, although their role in ethylene-dependent developmental processes remains poorly understood. As the ethylene-inducible tomato Sl-ERF.B3 has been shown previously to display a strong binding affinity to GCC-box-containing promoters, its physiological significance was addressed here by a reverse genetics approach. However, classical up-and down-regulation strategies failed to give clear clues to its roles in planta, probably due to functional redundancy among ERF family members. Expression of a dominant repressor ERF.B3-SRDX version of Sl-ERF.B3 in the tomato resulted in pleiotropic ethylene responses and vegetative and reproductive growth phenotypes. The dominant repressor etiolated seedlings displayed partial constitutive ethylene response in the absence of ethylene and adult plants exhibited typical ethylene-related alterations such as leaf epinasty, premature flower senescence and accelerated fruit abscission. The multiple symptoms related to enhanced ethylene sensitivity correlated with the altered expression of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling genes and suggested the involvement of Sl-ERF.B3 in a feedback mechanism that regulates components of ethylene production and response. Moreover, Sl-ERF.B3 was shown to modulate the transcription of a set of ERFs and revealed the existence of a complex network interconnecting different ERF genes. Overall, the study indicated that Sl-ERF.B3 had a critical role in the regulation of multiple genes and identified a number of ERFs among its primary targets, consistent with the pleiotropic phenotypes displayed by the dominant repression lines.
Heterologous expression of PCS gene from C. demersum complements Arabidopsis cad1-3 mutant and leads to enhanced accumulation of Cd and As in transgenic tobacco.
Recent studies have identified rice (Oryza sativa) as a major dietary source of inorganic arsenic (As) and poses a significant human health risk. The predominant model for plant detoxification of heavy metals is complexation of heavy metals with phytochelatins (PCs), synthesized non-translationally by PC synthase (PCS) and compartmentalized in vacuoles. In this study, in order to restrict As in the rice roots as a detoxification mechanism, a transgenic approach has been followed through expression of phytochelatin synthase, CdPCS1, from Ceratophyllum demersum, an aquatic As-accumulator plant. CdPCS1 expressing rice transgenic lines showed marked increase in PCS activity and enhanced synthesis of PCs in comparison to non-transgenic plant. Transgenic lines showed enhanced accumulation of As in root and shoot. This enhanced metal accumulation potential of transgenic lines was positively correlated to the content of PCs, which also increased several-fold higher in transgenic lines. However, all the transgenic lines accumulated significantly lower As in grain and husk in comparison to non-transgenic plant. The higher level of PCs in transgenic plants relative to non-transgenic presumably allowed sequestering and detoxification of higher amounts of As in roots and shoots, thereby restricting its accumulation in grain.
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