Expression of a transcription factor (FsERF1) involved in ethylene signalling during the breaking of dormancy in Fagus sylvatica seeds

Abstract

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.

Functional annotation of expressed sequence tags as a tool to understand the molecular mechanism controlling flower bud development in tree peony

“…CL95Contig1 shows high similarity to a GASA‐like protein, which is upregulated by the plant hormone gibberellin and plays an important role in regulation of flowering (Roxrud et al 2007). 1F4 shows a putative ethylene transcription factor domain, which is involved in ethylene’s signaling, which causes the break of dormancy (Jiménez et al 2008). EST 80 shows high similarity to a proline‐rich protein, which is required for the regulation of flowering time in the late‐flowering phenotype of Gossypium hirsutum (Li et al 2002).…”

Ethylene, a key factor in the regulation of seed dormancy

“…ERFs genes might also play a pivotal role in ethylene responsiveness and regulation of germination ( Leubner-Metzger et al, 1998 ; Pirrello et al, 2006 ). FsERF1 expression is minimal in dormant beechnut embryo, but increases during moist chilling which breaks dormancy ( Jimenez et al, 2005 ). In sunflower, ERF1 expression is fivefold higher in non-dormant than in dormant embryos, and expression is markedly stimulated by HCN, which breaks dormancy ( Oracz et al, 2008 ).…”

ABA crosstalk with ethylene and nitric oxide in seed dormancy and germination

“…ERFs genes might also play a key (pivotal) role in ethylene responsiveness and germination regulation (Leubner-Metzger et al, 1998; Pirrello et al, 2006). In beechnut, Jimenez et al (2005) demonstrated that the expression of FsERF1 , a transcription factor involved in C 2 H 4 signaling and sharing high homology with Arabidopsis ERFs , increases during dormancy release in the presence of ethephon or after chilling. In sunflower, ERF1 expression is fivefold higher in non-dormant than in dormant embryos, and also markedly stimulated by gaseous HCN, which breaks dormancy (Oracz et al, 2008).…”

“…In sunflower, ERF1 expression is fivefold higher in non-dormant than in dormant embryos, and also markedly stimulated by gaseous HCN, which breaks dormancy (Oracz et al, 2008). Beechnut FsERF1 is almost undetectable in dormant seeds incubated under high temperature conditions that maintain dormancy, or in the presence of germination inhibitors, either ABA or AOA, an inhibitor of ethylene biosynthesis, but increases during moist chilling that progressively breaks dormancy (Mortensen et al, 2004; Jimenez et al, 2005). In tomato ( Solanum lycopersicon ), SlERF2 transcript accumulation is higher in germinating seeds than in non-germinating ones, and its overexpression in transgenic lines results in premature seed germination (Pirrello et al, 2006).…”