Glyma11g13220, a homolog of the vernalization pathway gene VERNALIZATION 1 from soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], promotes flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

BackgroundThe precise timing of flowering is fundamental to successful reproduction, and has dramatic significance for crop yields. Although prolonged low temperatures are not required for flowering induction in soybean, vernalization pathway genes have been retained during the evolution of this species. Little information is currently available in regarding these genes in soybean.ResultsWe were able to detect the expression of Glyma11g13220 in different organs at all monitored developmental stages in soybean. Glyma11g13220 expression was higher in leaves and pods than in shoot apexes and stems. In addition, Glyma11g13220 was responsive to photoperiod and low temperature in soybean. Furthermore, Glyma11g13220 was found to be a nuclear-localized protein. Over-expression of Glyma11g13220 in an Arabidopsis Columbia-0 (Col-0) background resulted in early flowering. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed that transcript levels of flower repressor FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC), and FD decreased significantly in transgenic Arabidopsis compared with wild-type Col-0, while the expression of VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE 3 (VIN3) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) noticeably increased.ConclusionsOur results suggest that Glyma11g13220, a homolog of Arabidopsis VRN1, is a functional protein. Glyma11g13220, which is responsive to photoperiod and low temperature in soybean, may participate in the vernalization pathway in Arabidopsis and help regulate flowering time. Arabidopsis VRN1 and Glyma11g13220 exhibit conserved as well as diverged functions.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-015-0602-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The AtDREB1A transcription factor up-regulates expression of a vernalization pathway gene, GmVRN1-like, delaying flowering in soybean

“…Low homology between GmVRN1-like and AtVRN1 suggests there are many differences in their functions (Lü et al 2015). We have cloned GmVRN1-like and overexpressed it in A. thaliana and found it promotes flowering in transgenic plants (Lü et al 2015). This further confirms the likely role of GmVRN1-like in the regulation of flowering.…”

“…However, vrn1 mutants exhibit decreased vernalization response rather than delayed flowering (Levy et al 2002). Low homology between GmVRN1-like and AtVRN1 suggests there are many differences in their functions (Lü et al 2015). We have cloned GmVRN1-like and overexpressed it in A. thaliana and found it promotes flowering in transgenic plants (Lü et al 2015).…”

“…The higher expression level of GmVRN1-like in transgenic plants than in WT plants, suggested that GmVRN1-like may be the downstream target of AtDREB1A. There is a motif with a core sequence of ACCGAC in the GmVRN1-like promoter region, 168 bp upstream of the start codon (Lü et al 2015). This motif has 100 % identity to the DRE cis-element present in the promoter of RD29A (Maruyama et al 2004).…”

“…The primer efficiency have been determined with the range of 90.2-109.0 % and used for calculated gene expression. The gene b-tubulin was used as internal control (Wang et al 2012;Lü et al 2015). The 2 -DDCt method was used to detect the relative expression levels of flower genes (Livak and Schmittgen 2001).…”

Heterologous Expression of a Glycine soja C2H2 Zinc Finger Gene Improves Aluminum Tolerance in Arabidopsis

“…The SA of the WT was 2.2 cm 2 , while the SA of GsGIS3 transgenic lines ranged from 3.9 to 4.4 cm 2 . Less damage was found in transgenic lines compared to WT plants, which showed a higher total root length and total root surface area ( Figure 5A GsGIS3 transcript abundance was assessed by qRT-PCR using the 2 -ΔΔCt method with the actin Actin3 gene as an internal control [40]. The data are represented as the averages of three independent biological experiments ± SD, and asterisks indicate a significant difference (* P < 0.05; * P < 0.01) compared with the corresponding controls.…”