Deschampsia antarctica is an Antarctic hairgrass that grows on the west coast of the Antarctic peninsula. In this report, we have identified and characterized a transcription factor, D. antarctica C-repeat binding factor 7 (DaCBF7), that is a member of the monocot group V CBF homologs. The protein contains a single AP2 domain, a putative nuclear localization signal, and the typical CBF signatur...

Dehydration-responsive element-binding (DREB) transcription factor (TF) plays a key role for abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In this study, a novel cDNA encoding DREB transcription factor, designated SsDREB, was isolated from succulent halophyte Suaeda salsa. This protein was classified in the A-6 group of DREB subfamily based on multiple sequence alignments and phylogenetic characterizatio...

RING finger proteins play an important role in plant adaptation to abiotic stresses. In the present study, a wild tomato (Solanum habrochaites) cold-induced RING-H2 finger gene, ShATL78L, was isolated, which has been identified as an abiotic stress responsive gene in tomato. The results showed that ShATL78L was constitutively expressed in various tissues such as root, leaf, petiole, stem, flowe...

The sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2) family members are plant unique serine/threonine kinases which play a key role in cellular signaling in response to abiotic stresses. The three SnRK2 members including SRK2D, SRK2I and SRK2E are known to phosphorylate major abscisic acid (ABA) responsive transcription factors, ABF2 and ABF4, involved in an ABA-dependent stress signal...

The histone modification level has been shown to be related with gene activation and repression in stress-responsive process, but there is little information on the relationship between histone modification and cell cycle gene expression responsive to environmental cues. In this study, the function of histone modifications in mediating the transcriptional regulation of cell cycle genes under va...

The microRNAs (miRNAs) are small (20-24 nt) sized, non-coding, single stranded riboregulator RNAs abundant in higher organisms. Recent findings have established that plants assign miRNAs as critical post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression in sequence-specific manner to respond to numerous abiotic stresses they face during their growth cycle. These small RNAs regulate gene expression ...

Acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) is a synthetic functional analog of salicylic acid which can induce systemic acquired resistance in plants, but its effects on abiotic stress tolerance is not well known. The objectives of this study were to examine effects of acibenzolar-S-methyl on heat or drought tolerance in creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) and to determine major ASM-responsive metabolite...

Nitric oxide (NO) plays important roles in diverse physiological processes in plants. NO can provoke both beneficial and harmful effects, which depend on the concentration and location of NO in plant cells. This review is focused on NO synthesis and the functions of NO in plant responses to abiotic environmental stresses. Abiotic stresses mostly induce NO production in plants. NO alleviates the...

Abiotic stress is one of the primary causes of crop losses worldwide. Much progress has been made in unraveling the complex stress response mechanisms, particularly in the identification of stress responsive protein-coding genes. In addition to protein coding genes, recently discovered microRNAs (miRNAs) and endogenous small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) have emerged as important players in plant s...

The APETALA2/ethylene-responsive element binding factor (AP2/ERF) family is one of the largest transcription factor (TF) families in plants that includes four major sub-families, namely AP2, DREB (dehydration responsive element binding), ERF (ethylene responsive factors) and RAV (Related to ABI3/VP). AP2/ERFs are known to play significant roles in various plant processes including growth and de...