Role of Arabidopsis MYB transcription factors in osmotic stress

摘要

Water deficit due to drought, high salt concentration and low temperature is one of the most important factor affecting the plants distribution on the earth surface. Identification of genes involved in mechanisms through which plants adapt to these adverse conditions is an important goal for future improvement of crop species in their tolerance to dehydration stress. Some genes involved in water stress response present MYB recognition sities in their promoter regions. MYB proteins are a class of transcription factors, identified in nearly all eukaryotes, sharing a common DNA binding domain. In Arabidopsis thaliana more than 90 R2R3-MYB genes have been identified. In this paper we present analysis of fifteen Arabidopsis MYB genes during Drought, PEG, NaCl, ABA and Cold treatments. The expression of four genes (erd10, rd22, ADH1 and AtP5CS1) known to be involved in osmotic stress response is also included. The positioning of five MYB genes along the ABA dependent and independent signal transduction cascades is discussed.