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ENAC1, a NAC Transcription Factor, is an Early and Transient Response Regulator Induced by Abiotic Stress in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

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Abstract

The plant-specific NAC (NAM, ATAF, and CUC)-domain proteins play important roles in plant development and stress responses. In this research, a full-length cDNA named ENAC1 (early NAC-domain protein induced by abiotic stress 1) was isolated from rice. ENAC1 possess one NAC domain in the N-terminus. Comparative time-course expression analysis indicated that ENAC1 expression, similar with OsDREB1A, was induced very quickly by various abiotic stresses including salt, drought, cold, and exogenous abscisic acid. However, the induction of ENAC1 by abiotic stress was transient and lasted up to 3 h, whereas that of OsDREB1A maintained longer. The promoter sequence of ENAC1 harbors several cis-elements including ABA response elements, but the well-known dehydration responsive element/C-repeat element is absent. The ENAC1-GFP (green fluorescent protein) fusion protein was localized in the nucleus of rice protoplast cell. Yeast hybrid assays revealed that ENAC1 was a transcription activator and bound to NAC recognition sequence (NACRS). Co-expression analysis suggested that ENAC1 co-expressed with a number of stress-related genes. Taken together, ENAC1 may be an early transcription activator of stress responses and function in the regulation of NACRS-mediated gene expression under abiotic stress.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

ABRE:

ABA response elements

CRT:

C-repeat

DAPI:

4,6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole

DRE:

Dehydration responsive element

DREB:

Dehydration responsive element binding protein

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

NAC:

NAM ATAF1/2 CUC2

NACRS:

NAC recognition sequence

ORF:

Open reading frame

RT:

Reverse transcription

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (no. NCET-08-0795), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos 30971556, 30971758), the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (no. 200803070036), State Key Laboratory of Rice Biology (no. 110101) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Hui Sun, Xi Huang, Xingjun Xu, Hongxia Lan, Ji Huang & Hong-Sheng Zhang

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  1. Hui Sun
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  2. Xi Huang
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Correspondence to Ji Huang or Hong-Sheng Zhang.

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Sun, H., Huang, X., Xu, X. et al. ENAC1, a NAC Transcription Factor, is an Early and Transient Response Regulator Induced by Abiotic Stress in Rice (Oryza sativa L.). Mol Biotechnol 52, 101–110 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-011-9477-4

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