Abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis overexpressing the Multiprotein bridging factor 1a (MBF1a) transcriptional coactivator gene

• Published in: Biochemical and biophysical research communications Vol. 354; no. 2; pp. 440 - 446
• Main Authors: Kim, Min-Jung, Lim, Gah-Hyun, Kim, Eun-Seon, Ko, Chang-Beom, Yang, Kwang-Yeol, Jeong, Jin-An, Lee, Myung-Chul, Kim, Cheol Soo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 09.03.2007
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis - microbiology; Arabidopsis Proteins - biosynthesis; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - physiology; Ethylenes - metabolism; Glucose - metabolism; Glucose insensitive; MBF1a; Molecular Sequence Data; Osmotic Pressure; Pathogen defense; Plants, Genetically Modified; Salt stress; Sodium Channels - metabolism; Trans-Activators - biosynthesis; Trans-Activators - genetics; Trans-Activators - physiology; Zea mays; Zea mays - genetics; Salt stress; Glucose insensitive; SAT; JA; MBF1a; SA; Pathogen defense; Glc; ET
• ISSN: 0006-291X; 1090-2104
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2006.12.212

We conducted a genetic yeast screen to identify salt tolerance (SAT) genes in a maize kernel cDNA library. During the screening, we identified a maize clone (SAT41) that seemed to confer elevated salt tolerance in comparison to control cells. SAT41 cDNA encodes a 16-kDa protein which is 82.4% identical to the Arabidopsis Multiprotein bridging factor 1a (MBF1a) transcriptional coactivator gene. To further examine salinity tolerance in Arabidopsis, we functionally characterized the MBF1a gene and found that dehydration as well as heightened glucose (Glc) induced MBF1a expression. Constitutive expression of MBF1a in Arabidopsis led to elevated salt tolerance in transgenic lines. Interestingly, plants overexpressing MBF1a exhibited insensitivity to Glc and resistance to fungal disease. Our results suggest that MBF1a is involved in stress tolerance as well as in ethylene and Glc signaling in Arabidopsis.