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Identification and Functional Characterization of the DcF3’H Promoter from Dracaena cambodiana

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Abstract

Dragon’s blood is a traditional medicine that is produced mainly from Dracaenas plants and is widely used in the world. The main chemical compounds in dragon’s blood are flavonoids. Flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase (F3’H) is an enzyme that synthesizes 3′-hydroxylated flavonoids. DcF3’H plays a vital role in determining the flavonoid content during the production of dragon′s blood; however, the regulation of DcF3’H expression in Dracaenas plants is poorly understood. In this study, a 759-bp promoter region of DcF3’H was isolated from Dracaena cambodiana. The promoter sequence contained cis-acting elements related to various environmental stresses and hormones responses. Dual-luciferase assays showed that the DcF3’H promoter was up-regulated by 6-benzyl aminopurine (6-BA) and down-regulated by methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and these results were consistent with transcription levels of DcF3’H in stems that were verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). DcHLH1, a bHLH transcription factor identified in yeast one-hybrid screening, was capable of both binding to the promoter and activating the transcription of DcF3’H by ~10-fold. The results provide new insights into the regulatory mechanisms of DcF3’H in Dracaena cambodiana.

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Fig. 1: Nucleotide sequence of the DcF3’H promoter.
Fig. 2: Deletion analysis of DcF3’H promoter activity.
Fig. 3: The effects of hormones on the expression of DcF3’H.
Fig. 4: Transcription activation assay of DcbHLH1 on the DcF3’H promoter.

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Abbreviations

F3’H:

Flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase

6-BA:

6-benzyl aminopurine

MeJA:

methyl jasmonate

TSS:

transcription start site

ABA:

abscisic acid

SA:

salicylic acid

IAA:

indole-3-acetic acid

ETH:

ethylene

GA3:

Gibberellin A3

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81773845), Central Public-interest Scientific Institution Basal Research Fund for Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (1630052016002) and Innovation Research Group Program of Hainan Province Natural Science Foundation (No. 2017CXTD020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Tropical Crop Biotechnology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Haikou, 571101, China

    Jiahong Zhu, Pan Chen, Dong Guo, Huiliang Li, Ying Wang, Haofu Dai, Wenli Mei & Shiqing Peng

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  1. Jiahong Zhu
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  2. Pan Chen
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  3. Dong Guo
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  4. Huiliang Li
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  6. Haofu Dai
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  7. Wenli Mei
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Correspondence to Wenli Mei or Shiqing Peng.

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Communicated by: John J. Riascos

Jiahong Zhu and Pan Chen are co-first authors

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Zhu, J., Chen, P., Guo, D. et al. Identification and Functional Characterization of the DcF3’H Promoter from Dracaena cambodiana. Tropical Plant Biol. 11, 192–198 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12042-018-9211-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12042-018-9211-5

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