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Structural, Functional, and Phylogenetic Characterization of a Large CBF Gene Family in Barley

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Abstract

CBFs are key regulators in the Arabidopsis cold signaling pathway. We used Hordeum vulgare (barley), an important crop and a diploid Triticeae model, to characterize the CBF family from a low temperature tolerant cereal. We report that barley contains a large CBF family consisting of at least 20 genes (HvCBFs) comprising three multigene phylogenetic groupings designated the HvCBF1-, HvCBF3-, and HvCBF4-subgroups. For the HvCBF1- and HvCBF3-subgroups, there are comparable levels of phylogenetic diversity among rice, a cold-sensitive cereal, and the cold-hardy Triticeae. For the HvCBF4-subgroup, while similar diversity levels are observed in the Triticeae, only a single ancestral rice member was identified. The barley CBFs share many functional characteristics with dicot CBFs, including a general primary domain structure, transcript accumulation in response to cold, specific binding to the CRT motif, and the capacity to induce cor gene expression when ectopically expressed in Arabidopsis. Individual HvCBF genes differed in response to abiotic stress types and in the response time frame, suggesting different sets of HvCBF genes are employed relative to particular stresses. HvCBFs specifically bound monocot and dicot cor gene CRT elements in vitro under both warm and cold conditions; however, binding of HvCBF4-subgroup members was cold dependent. The temperature-independent HvCBFs activated cor gene expression at warm temperatures in transgenic Arabidopsis, while the cold-dependent HvCBF4-subgroup members of three Triticeae species did not. These results suggest that in the Triticeae – as in Arabidopsis – members of the CBF gene family function as fundamental components of the winter hardiness regulon.

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Abbreviations

CRT:

C-repeat

DRE:

dehydration response element

EST:

expressed sequence tag

gDNA:

genomic DNA

LT:

low temperature

PCR:

polymerase chain reaction

QTL:

quantitative trait locus

UTR:

untranslated region

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Jeffrey S. Skinner & Tony H.H. Chen

  2. Department of Crop and Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Jeffrey S. Skinner, Jarislav von Zitzewitz, Péter Szűcs, Luis Marquez-Cedillo, Tanya Filichkin & Patrick M. Hayes

  3. Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-2462, Martonvásár, Hungary

    Péter Szűcs

  4. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Keenan Amundsen & Michael F. Thomashow

  5. Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University/OARDC, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

    Eric J. Stockinger

  6. United States National Arboretum, USDA-ARS, Washington, DC, 20002, USA

    Keenan Amundsen

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  1. Jeffrey S. Skinner
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  2. Jarislav von Zitzewitz
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  3. Péter Szűcs
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  4. Luis Marquez-Cedillo
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  5. Tanya Filichkin
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  6. Keenan Amundsen
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  7. Eric J. Stockinger
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  8. Michael F. Thomashow
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  9. Tony H.H. Chen
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  10. Patrick M. Hayes
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Correspondence to Patrick M. Hayes.

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Skinner, J.S., von Zitzewitz, J., Szűcs, P. et al. Structural, Functional, and Phylogenetic Characterization of a Large CBF Gene Family in Barley. Plant Mol Biol 59, 533–551 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-005-2498-2

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