Brassinosteroids participate in the control of basal and acquired freezing tolerance of plants

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are growth-promoting plant hormones that play a role in abiotic stress responses, but molecular modes that enable this activity remain largely unknown. Here we show that BRs participate in the regulation of freezing tolerance. BR signaling-defective mutants of Arabidopsis thal...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 113; no. 40; pp. E5982 - E5991
Main Authors Eremina, Marina, Unterholzner, Simon J., Rathnayake, Ajith I., Castellanos, Marcos, Khan, Mamoona, Kugler, Karl G., May, Sean T., Mayer, Klaus F. X., Rozhon, Wilfried, Poppenberger, Brigitte
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 04.10.2016
SeriesFrom the Cover
Subjects
Abiotic stress
Biological Sciences
Flowers & plants
Growth hormones
PNAS Plus
Stress response
Temperature
CBFs
cold responses
CBF1
brassinosteroid
CESTA
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Summary:Brassinosteroids (BRs) are growth-promoting plant hormones that play a role in abiotic stress responses, but molecular modes that enable this activity remain largely unknown. Here we show that BRs participate in the regulation of freezing tolerance. BR signaling-defective mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana were hypersensitive to freezing before and after cold acclimation. The constitutive activation of BR signaling, in contrast, enhanced freezing resistance. Evidence is provided that the BR-controlled basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor CESTA (CES) can contribute to the constitutive expression of the C-REPEAT/DEHYDRATION-RESPONSIVE ELEMENT BINDING FACTOR (CBF) transcriptional regulators that control cold responsive (COR) gene expression. In addition, CBF-independent classes of BR-regulated COR genes are identified that are regulated in a BR- and CES-dependent manner during cold acclimation. A model is presented in which BRs govern different cold-responsive transcriptional cascades through the post-translational modification of CES and redundantly acting factors. This contributes to the basal resistance against freezing stress, but also to the further improvement of this resistance through cold acclimation.
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1Present address: Institute of Science and Technology Austria, A-3400 Klosterneuburg, Austria.
Author contributions: M.E., M.C., K.G.K., S.T.M., K.F.X.M., W.R., and B.P. designed research; M.E., S.J.U., A.I.R., M.C., M.K., K.G.K., and W.R. performed research; M.E., S.J.U., K.G.K., W.R., and B.P. analyzed data; and B.P. wrote the paper.
Edited by Michael F. Thomashow, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, and approved August 1, 2016 (received for review July 13, 2016)
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1611477113