ZmDof30 Negatively Regulates the Promoter Activity of the Pollen-Specific Gene Zm908

• Published in: Frontiers in plant science Vol. 8; p. 685
• Main Authors: Peng, Jing, Qi, Xin, Chen, Xiyang, Li, Nan, Yu, Jingjuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 01.05.2017
• Subjects: cis-regulatory elements; maize; Plant Science; pollen-specific; transcriptional repressor; Zm908; ZmDof30; Zm908; cis-regulatory elements; maize; ZmDof30; pollen-specific; transcriptional repressor
• ISSN: 1664-462X; 1664-462X
• DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00685

The maize ( ) pollen-predominant gene , a novel small-peptide gene, was reported to play critical roles in pollen germination and pollen tube growth in our previous work. In this study, we aimed to explore the regulatory mechanism of . The putative promoter of was cloned and analyzed. The activity analysis of a series of promoter truncations in different tissues of transgenic tobacco plants indicated that the promoter is pollen-specific and that the -126 to -68 region is crucial for pollen expression. The 5' deletion analysis of the -126 to -68 region revealed that the -126 to -102 region functions as a transcriptional suppression element. , which is predominantly expressed in pollen and whole anthers, was cloned and characterized. ZmDof30-GFP localized to the nuclei of maize protoplasts and possessed no transcriptional activation activity in a yeast system. ZmDof30 could bind to the AAAG elements in p184 sequence containing the -126 to +58 region of the promoter and , and negatively regulated p184 activity in tobacco leaves. Collectively, ZmDof30 may function as a transcriptional repressor in pollen, and these results may provide a better understanding of the regulation of the gene. Additionally, the pollen-specific promoter may be valuable for genetically engineering male sterility.