A Gene Regulatory Network Controlled by BpERF2 and BpMYB102 in Birch under Drought Conditions

Abstract

Gene expression profiles are powerful tools for investigating mechanisms of plant stress tolerance. Betula platyphylla (birch) is a widely distributed tree, but its drought-tolerance mechanism has been little studied. Using RNA-Seq, we identified 2917 birch genes involved in its response to drought stress. These drought-responsive genes include the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) family, heat shock protein (HSP) family, water shortage-related and ROS-scavenging proteins, and many transcription factors (TFs). Among the drought-induced TFs, the ethylene responsive factor (ERF) and myeloblastosis oncogene (MYB) families were the most abundant. BpERF2 and BpMYB102, which were strongly induced by drought and had high transcription levels, were selected to study their regulatory networks. BpERF2 and BpMYB102 both played roles in enhancing drought tolerance in birch. Chromatin immunoprecipitation combined with qRT-PCR indicated that BpERF2 regulated genes such as those in the LEA and HSP families, while BpMYB102 regulated genes such as Pathogenesis-related Protein 1 (PRP1) and 4-Coumarate:Coenzyme A Ligase 10 (4CL10). Multiple genes were regulated by both BpERF2 and BpMYB102. We further characterized the function of some of these genes, and the genes that encode Root Primordium Defective 1 (RPD1), PRP1, 4CL10, LEA1, SOD5, and HSPs were found to be involved in drought tolerance. Therefore, our results suggest that BpERF2 and BpMYB102 serve as transcription factors that regulate a series of drought-tolerance genes in B. platyphylla to improve drought tolerance.

Betula platyphylla BpHOX2 transcription factor binds to different cis‐acting elements and confers osmotic tolerance

“…BpHOX2 belongs to HD-Zip I family Previously, a HD-Zip family gene from birch that was highly induced by osmotic stress was identified using RNA-seq (Wen et al 2019), suggesting that BpHOX2 might be involved in osmotic stress tolerance in birch. Therefore, we characterized the function of BpHOX2 in response to osmotic stress.…”

The Artificial Promoter rMdAG2I Confers Flower-specific Activity in Malus

“…Because there is no well-established stable transformation protocol for most Malus species, we employed Agrobacterium -based transient transformation to test all four constructs. The transient transformation method has the advantages of being simpler and faster than the stable transformation [36,37,38,39] and is regularly used in both Arabidopsis and tobacco to characterize the subcellular localization of functional genes [40,41,42]. Additionally, it has been reported that combining the clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 system and Agrobacterium -mediated transient transformation makes it possible to produce a target mutant with no integration of transgenes, which can be very important to accelerate the application of CRISPR technology in asexually-propagated woody plants [43,44,45,46].…”

Abiotic stresses induced physiological, biochemical, and molecular changes in <i>Betula platyphylla</i>: a review

“…Betula platyphylla responds to abiotic stress by having some morphological and anatomical adaptation. Wen et al (2019) revealed that an injured phenotype was acquired in drought-treated B. platyphylla than that in normal conditions. The leaves were drooped followed by the reduction of leaves' water content (Wen et al 2019).…”

“…Wen et al (2019) revealed that an injured phenotype was acquired in drought-treated B. platyphylla than that in normal conditions. The leaves were drooped followed by the reduction of leaves' water content (Wen et al 2019). Under O 3 stress, the number of attached leaves at the B. platyphylla seedling terminal shoots initially increased, and then several leaves had an early decline that showed by the enhanced of shed leaves (Hoshika et al 2013b).…”