Functional characterization of the pathogenesis-related protein family 10 gene, PgPR10-4, from Panax ginseng in response to environmental stresses

• Published in: Plant cell, tissue and organ culture Vol. 118; no. 3; pp. 531 - 543
• Main Authors: Kim, Yu-Jin, Jang, Moon-Gi, Lee, Hye-Jin, Jang, Gyu-Hwan, Sukweenadhi, Johan, Kwon, Woo-Saeng, Yang, Deok-Chun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer-Verlag 01.09.2014; Springer Netherlands; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abscisic acid; Actinidia chinensis; Allergens; Amino acids; Antifungal activity; antifungal properties; Arabidopsis; Biomedical and Life Sciences; biotic stress; complementary DNA; Cytoplasm; Environmental stress; Expressed sequence tags; Fluorescence; fungi; Fungicides; Fusion protein; Gene expression; gene expression regulation; gene overexpression; Gene sequencing; genes; Ginseng; Hydrogen peroxide; Jasmonic acid; leaves; Life Sciences; open reading frames; Original Paper; Panax ginseng; Pathogenesis; Pathogenesis-related proteins; Pathogens; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Plant Pathology; Plant Physiology; Plant Sciences; Plants (botany); Proteins; Salicylic acid; salinity; salt stress; Signal transduction; Signaling; stress tolerance; Transgenic plants; BetV1 protein; Biotic stress; Pathogenesis-related protein
• ISSN: 0167-6857; 1573-5044
• DOI: 10.1007/s11240-014-0505-5

Pathogenesis-related proteins (PRs) are known to function in higher plants as a protein-based defensive system against abiotic and biotic stress, particularly pathogen infections. A full-length cDNA sequence of PR BetV1 was isolated and characterized from a 14-year-old ginseng expressed sequence tags library and we named this as PgPR10-4, because of similar identities with previous isolated PgPR10s sequences. The PgPR10-4 gene encodes a 477 bp open reading frame and its deduced protein contains 158 amino acids with a 53 % identity with that of the Actinidia chinensis BetV1 allergen. The expression of PgPR10-4 gene was abundant in leaves and its transcripts showed differentially up-regulated patterns against several ginseng pathogens and abiotic stimuli such as high light and salinity. In addition, PgPR10-4 expression was strongly responsive towards the stress signaling molecules H₂O₂ and jasmonic acid (JA), while weekly responsive to salicylic acid and abscisic acid. A functional role of PgPR10-4 in environmental stress tolerance was further validated through its overexpression in Arabidopsis. An analysis of T2 transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the PgPR10-4 gene showed an enhanced tolerance to bacterial and fungal infection, but not to salt stress. When we tagged with cyan fluorescent protein fusion protein, the PgPR10-4-was found to localize to the cytoplasm. The enhanced antifungal activity observed from the Arabidopsis transgenic lines suggests the possible involvement of PgPR10-4 in a defense-related mechanism via the JA signaling pathway.