Cytosolic calcium signaling is critical for regulating downstream responses in plants encountering unfavorable environmental conditions. In a genetic screen for Arabidopsis thaliana mutants defective in stress-induced cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+ ]cyt ) elevations, we identified the R2R3-MYB transcription factor MYB30 as a regulator of [Ca2+ ]cyt in response to H2 O2 and heat stresses. Plants lacking MYB30 protein exhibited greater elevation of [Ca2+ ]cyt in response to oxidative and heat stimuli. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results indicated that the expression of a number of ANNEXIN (ANN) genes, which encode Ca2+ -regulated membrane-binding proteins modulating cytosolic calcium signatures, were upregulated in myb30 mutants. Further analysis showed that MYB30 bound to the promoters of ANN1 and ANN4 and repressed their expression. myb30 mutants were sensitive to methyl viologen (MV) and heat stresses. The H2 O2 - and heat-induced abnormal [Ca2+ ]cyt in myb30 was dependent on the function of ANN proteins. Moreover, the MV and heat sensitivity of myb30 was suppressed in mutants lacking ANN function or by application of LaCl3 , a calcium channel blocker. These results indicate that MYB30 regulates oxidative and heat stress responses through calcium signaling, which is at least partially mediated by ANN1 and ANN4.
Keywords: ANNEXIN; Arabidopsis; MYB30; calcium signaling; heat stress; oxidative stress; stress response; transcriptional regulation.
© 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.