Abstract
We have isolated a rab-related (responsive to ABA) gene, rab18 from Arabidopsis thaliana. The gene encodes a hydrophilic, glycine-rich protein (18.5 kDa), which contains the conserved serine- and lysine-rich domains characteristic of similar RAB proteins in other plant species. The rab18 mRNA accumulates in plants exposed to low temperature, water stress or exogenous ABA but not in plants subjected to heat shock. This stress-related accumulation of the rab18 mRNA is markedly decreased in the ABA-synthesis mutant aba-1, the ABA-response mutant abi-1 or in wild-type plants treated with the carotenoid synthesis inhibitor, fluridone. Exogenous ABA treatment can induce the rab18 mRNA in the aba-1 mutant but not in the abi-1 mutant. These results provide direct genetic evidence for the ABA-dependent regulation of the rab18 gene in A. thaliana.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker J, Steele C, DureIII L: Sequence and characterization of 6 Lea proteins and their genes from cotton. Plant Mol Biol 11: 277–291 (1988).
Bray EA: Drought- and ABA-induced changes in polypeptide and mRNA accumulation in tomato leaves. Plant Physiol 88: 1210–1214 (1988).
Cattivelli L, Bartels D: Molecular cloning and characterization of cold-regulated genes in barley. Plant Physiol 93: 1504–1510 (1990).
Chen THH, Gusta LV: Abscisic acid-induced freezing resistance in cultured plant cells. Plant Physiol 73: 71–75 (1983).
Chen Q, Vierling E: Analysis of conserved domains identifies a unique structural feature of a chloroplast heat shock protein. Mol Gen Genet 226: 425–431 (1991).
Chen HH, Li PH, Brenner ML: Involvement of abscisic acid in potato cold acclimation. Plant Physiol 71: 362–365 (1983).
Close TJ, Kortt AA, Chandler PM: A cDNA-based comparison of dehydration-induced proteins (dehydrins) in barley and corn. Plant Mol Biol 13: 95–108 (1989).
Cloutier Y, Siminovitch D: Correlation between cold- and drought-induced frost hardiness in winter wheat and rye varieties. Plant Physiol 69: 256–258 (1982).
Condit MC, Meagher RB: A gene encoding a novel glycine-rich structural protein of petunia. Nature 323: 178–181 (1986).
Daie J, Campbell WF: Response of tomato plants to stressful temperatures. Plant Physiol 67: 26–29 (1981).
Dellaporta SL, Wood J, Hicks JB: A plant DNA minipreparation: version II. Plant Mol Biol Rep 1: 19–21 (1983).
Dunn MA, Hugnes MA, Zhang L, Pearce RS, Wuigley AS, Jack PL: Nucleotide sequence and molecular analysis of the low temperature induced cereal gene, BLT4. Mol Gen Genet 229: 389–394 (1991).
DureIII L, Crouch M, Harada J, Ho THD, Mundy J, Quatrano R, Thomas T, Sung ZR: Common amino acid sequence domains among the LEA proteins of higher plants. Plant Mol Biol 12: 475–486 (1989).
Gamble PE, Mullet JE: Inhibition of carotenoid accumulation and abscisic acid biosynthesis in fluridone-treated dark-grown barley. Eur J Biochem 160: 117–121 (1986).
Gilmartin PM, Sarokin L, Memelink J, Chua N-H: Molecular light switches for plant genes. Plant Cell 2: 369–378 (1990).
Gilmour SJ, Thomashow MF: Cold acclimation and cold-regulated gene expression in ABA mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol Biol 17: 1233–1240 (1991).
Godoy JA, Pardo JM, Pintor-Toro JA: A tomato cDNA clone inducible by salt stress and abscisic acid: nucleotide sequence and expression pattern. Plant Mol Biol 15: 695–705 (1990).
Gomez J, Sanchez-Martinez D, Stiefel V, Rigau J, Puigdomenech P, Pages M: A gene induced by the plant hormone abscisic acid in response to water stress encodes a glycine-rich protein. Nature 324: 262–264 (1988).
Guiltinan MJ, Marcotte WRJr, Quatrano RS: A plant leucine zipper protein that recognizes an abscisic acid response element. Science 250: 267–271 (1990).
Guy CL: Cold acclimation and freezing stress tolerance: role of protein metabolism. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 41: 187–223 (1990).
Guy CL, Haskell D: Detection of polypeptides associated with the cold acclimation process in spinach. Electrophoresis 9: 787–796 (1988).
Hahn M, Walbot V: Effects of cold-treatment on protein synthesis and mRNA levels in rice leaves. Plant Physiol 91: 930–938 (1989).
Hajela RK, Horvath DP, Gilmour SJ, Thomashow MF: Molecular cloning and expression of cor (cold-regulated) genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiol 93: 1246–1252 (1990).
Heino P, Sandman G, Lång V, Nordin K, Palva ET: Abscisic acid deficiency prevents development of freezing tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Theor Appl Genet 79: 801–806 (1990).
Johnson-Flanagan AM, Huiwen Z, Thiagarajah MR, Saini HS: Role of abscisic acid in the introduction of freezing tolerance in Brassica napus suspension-cultured cells. Plant Physiol 95: 1044–1048 (1991).
Keller B, Sauer N, Lamb CJ: Glycine-rich cell wall protein in bean: gene structure and association of the protein with the vascular system. EMBO J 7: 3625–3633 (1988).
Koornneef M, Hanhart CJ, Hilhorst HWM, Karssen CM: In vivo inhibition of seed development and reserve protein accumulation in recombinants of abscisic acid biosynthesis and responsiveness mutants in A. thaliana. Plant Physiol 90: 463–469 (1989).
Koornneef M, Jorna ML, Brinkhorst-van der Swan DLC, Karssen CM: The isolation of abscisic acid (ABA) deficient mutants by selection of induced revertants in nongerminating gibberellin sensitive lines of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Theor Appl Genet 61: 385–393 (1982).
Koornneef M, Reuling G, Karssen CM: The isolation and characterization of abscisic acid-insensitive mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana. Physiol Plant 61: 377–383 (1984).
Kurkela S, Franck M: Cloning and characterization of a cold- and ABA-inducible Arabidopsis gene. Plant Mol Biol 15: 137–144 (1990).
Kurkela S, Franck M, Heino P, Lång V, Palva ET: Cold induced gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana L. Plant Cell Rep 7: 495–498 (1988).
Kyte J, Doolittle RF: A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol 157: 105–132 (1982).
Levitt J: Response of Plants to Environmental Stresses, vol 1, 2nd ed. Academic Press, New York (1980).
Lin C, Guo WW, Everson E, Thomashow MF: Cold acclimation in Arabidopsis thaliana and wheat. Plant Physiol 94: 1078–1083 (1990).
Legeman J, Schell J, Willmitzer L: Improved method for the isolation of RNA from plant tissues. Anal Biochem 163: 16–20 (1987).
Lång V, Heino P, Palva ET: Low temperature acclimation and treatment with exogenous abscisic acid induce common polypeptides in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Theor Appl Genet 77: 729–734 (1989).
Mogapatra SS, Wolfraim L, Poole RJ, Dhindsa RS: Molecular cloning and relationship to freezing tolerance of cold-acclimation-specific genes of alfalfa. Plant Physiol 89: 375–380 (1989).
Mundy J, Chua N-H: Abscisic acid and water-stress induce the expression of a novel rice gene. EMBO J 7: 2279–2286 (1988).
Mundy J, Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Chua N-H: Nuclear proteins bind conserved elements in the abscisic acid-responsive promoter of a rice rab gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 87: 1406–1410 (1990).
Nordin K, Heino P, Palva ET: Separate signal pathways regulate the expression of a low temperature induced gene in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Plant Mol Biol 16: 1061–1071 (1991).
deOliveira DE, Seurinck J, Inze D, VanMontagu M, Botterman J: Differential expression of five Arabidopsis genes encoding glycine-rich proteins. Plant Cell 2: 427–436 (1990).
Orr W, Keller WA, Singh J: Introduction of freezing tolerance in an embryonic cell suspension culture of Brassica napus by abscisic acid at room temperature. J Plant Physiol 126: 23–32 (1986).
Piatkowski D, Schneider K, Salamini F, Bartels D: Characterization of five abscisic acid responsive cDNA clones isolated from the desiccation tolerant plant Craterostigma plantagineum and their relationship to other water-stress genes. Plant Physiol 94: 1682–1688 (1990).
Pla M, Goday A, Vilardell J, Gomez J, Pages M: Differential regulation of ABA-induced 23–25 kDa proteins in embryo and vegetative tissues of the viviparous mutants of maize. Plant Mol Biol 13: 385–394 (1989).
Raynal M, Gaubler P, Grellet F, Delseny M: Nucleotide sequence of a radish cDNA clone coding for a late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein. Nucl Acids Res 18: 6132 (1990).
Ried JL, Walker-Simmons MK: Synthesis of abscisic acid-responsive, heat-stable proteins in embryonic axes of dormant wheat grain. Plant Physiol 93: 662–667 (1990).
Sakai A, Larcher W: Frost Survival of Plants. Responses and Adaptation to Freezing Stress. Springer-Verlag, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York (1987).
Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T: Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY (1989).
Sanger F, Nicklen S, Coulsen AR: DNA sequencing with chain terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 74: 5463–5467 (1977).
Schaffer MA, Fischer RL: Analysis of mRNAs that accumulate in response to low temperature identifies a thiol protease gene in tomato. Plant Physiol 87: 431–436 (1988).
Skriver K, Mundy J: Gene expression in response to abscisic acid and osmotic stress. Plant Cell 2: 503–512 (1990).
Verwoerd TC, Dekker BMM, Hoekema A: A small scale procedure for the rapid isolation of plant RNAs. Nucl Acids Res 17: 2362 (1989).
Vilardell J, Goday A, Freire MA, Torrent M, Martinez MC, Torne JM, Pages M: Gene sequence, developmental expression, and protein phosphorylation of RBA-17 in maize. Plant Mol Biol 14: 423–432 (1990).
Walton DC: Biochemistry and physiology of abscisic acid. Annu Rev Plant Physiol 31: 453–489 (1980).
Wightman F: Modern chromatographic methods for the identification and quantification of plant growth regulators and their application to studies of the changes in the hormonal substances in winter wheat during during acclimation to cold stress conditions. In: Scott TK (ed) Plant Regulations and World Agriculture, pp. 327–377. Plenum Press, New York (1979).
Wright STC: Phytohormones and stress phenomena. In: Letham DS, Goodwin PB, Higgins TJV (eds) Phytohormones and Related Compounds: A Comprehensive Treatise, vol. 2, pp. 495–537. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam (1978).
Yamaguchi-Shinozaki K, Mundy J, Chua N-H: Four tightly linked rab genes are differentially expressed in rice. Plant Mol Biol 14: 29–39 (1989).
Yelenosky G, Guy CL: Freezing tolerance of citrus, spinach, and petunia leaf tissue: osmotic adjustment and sensitivity to freeze induced cellular dehydration. Plant Physiol 89: 444–451 (1989).
Zeevaart JAD, Creelman RA: Metabolism and physiology of abscisic acid. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 39: 439–473 (1988).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lång, V., Palva, E.T. The expression of a rab-related gene, rab18, is induced by abscisic acid during the cold acclimation process of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Plant Mol Biol 20, 951–962 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00027165
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00027165