AtRD22 and AtUSPL1, members of the plant-specific BURP domain family involved in Arabidopsis thaliana drought tolerance

PLoS One. 2014 Oct 15;9(10):e110065. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110065. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Crop plants are regularly challenged by a range of environmental stresses which typically retard their growth and ultimately compromise economic yield. The stress response involves the reprogramming of approximately 4% of the transcriptome. Here, the behavior of AtRD22 and AtUSPL1, both members of the Arabidopsis thaliana BURP (BNM2, USP, RD22 and polygalacturonase isozyme) domain-containing gene family, has been characterized. Both genes are up-regulated as part of the abscisic acid (ABA) mediated moisture stress response. While AtRD22 transcript was largely restricted to the leaf, that of AtUSPL1 was more prevalent in the root. As the loss of function of either gene increased the plant's moisture stress tolerance, the implication was that their products act to suppress the drought stress response. In addition to the known involvement of AtUSPL1 in seed development, a further role in stress tolerance was demonstrated. Based on transcriptomic data and phenotype we concluded that the enhanced moisture stress tolerance of the two loss-of-function mutants is a consequence of an enhanced basal defense response.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Biological / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / chemistry
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics*
  • Chlorophyll / metabolism
  • Droughts*
  • Gene Deletion
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Gene Order
  • Multigene Family*
  • Mutagenesis, Insertional
  • Osmotic Pressure
  • Phenotype
  • Pheophytins / metabolism
  • Plants, Genetically Modified
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs*
  • Salinity
  • Stress, Physiological / genetics
  • Transcription, Genetic

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Pheophytins
  • RD22 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Chlorophyll

Grants and funding

The work was funded by Vietnamese government. The junior Research Group Abiotic Stress Genomics (MK and NS) is funded by IZN (Interdisciplinary Center for Crop Plant Research, Halle (Saale), Germany. VTH and CS are funded by BMBF (GABI-GRAIN: Integrative genomics approach for exploring seed quality and yield under terminal drought; FKZ 0315041A and FKZ 0315041C) and IB-BMBF (Ind09/526). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.