A cytosolic class II small heat shock protein, PfHSP17.2, confers resistance to heat, cold, and salt stresses in transgenic Arabidopsis

• Published in: Genetics and molecular biology Vol. 41; no. 3; pp. 649 - 660
• Main Authors: Zhang, Lu, Hu, Weijuan, Gao, Yike, Pan, Huitang, Zhang, Qixiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Sociedade Brasileira de Genetica 01.07.2018; Sociedade Brasileira de Genética
• Subjects: Arabidopsis; BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY; Cold shock; Cold shock proteins; Fluorescence; GENETICS & HEREDITY; Green fluorescent protein; Heat shock proteins; Heat stress; Heat tolerance; Heat treatment; Homology; Leaves; Localization; Low temperature resistance; Oxidative stress; Phylogeny; Plant Genetics; Plant tissues; Salts; sHSPs; stress tolerance; Arabidopsis; stress tolerance; sHSPs
• ISSN: 1415-4757; 1678-4685; 1678-4685
• DOI: 10.1590/1678-4685-gmb-2017-0206

We cloned and characterized the full-length coding sequence of a small heat shock (sHSP) gene, PfHSP17.2, from Primula forrestii leaves following heat stress treatment. Homology and phylogenetic analysis suggested that PfHSP17.2 is a cytosolic class II sHSP, which was further supported by the cytosolic localization of transient expression of PfHSP17.2 fused with green fluorescent protein reporter. Expression analysis showed that PfHSP17.2 was highly inducible by heat stress in almost all the vegetative and generative tissues and was expressed under salt, cold, and oxidative stress conditions as well. Moreover, the expression of PfHSP17.2 in P. forrestii was detected in certain developmental growth stages. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana constitutively expressing PfHSP17.2 displayed increased thermotolerance and higher resistance to salt and cold compared with wild type plants. It is suggested that PfHSP17.2 plays a key role in heat and other abiotic stresses.