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DREB takes the stress out of growing up

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 229–230 (1999)Cite this article

Although conventional plant-breeding programs have improved yields for crops grown in stressful environments, there is a growing belief that further gains can only be achieved through targeted manipulation of genes involved in stress resistance2. Many stress-inducible genes have been identified over the past decade3, but only recently have functional roles in stress tolerance been identified. This makes it feasible to improve crop stress tolerance by targeting stress-related genes for genetic manipulation. The work reported in this issue is an important step toward that goal.

Shinozaki's group had already identified a dehydration-responsive transcription factor (DREB1A) that mediates transcription of several genes in response to cold and water stress4. Stress-related gene expression is induced by the binding of DREB1A, which is itself induced by cold and water stress, to a cis-acting DNA (DRE) element in the promoters of genes such as rd29A, rd17, cor6.6, cor 15a, erd10, and kin1. This binding initiates synthesis of gene products implicated in plant acclimation responses to low temperature and water stress3,5. The signal transduction pathway mediating these inductive events is independent of abscisic acid (ABA), a hormone involved in expression of similar genes in response to water stress6.

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Figure 1: Overexpression of a stress-regulatable transcription factor in Arabidopsis improves tolerance to dehydration, freezing, and salt stress.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK

    Nicholas Smirnoff

  2. professor at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Exeter, Hatherly Laboratories, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4PS, UK

    John A. Bryant

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  1. Nicholas Smirnoff
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  2. John A. Bryant
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Smirnoff, N., Bryant, J. DREB takes the stress out of growing up. Nat Biotechnol 17, 229–230 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/6968

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