DREB1/CBF transcription factors: their structure, function and role in abiotic stress tolerance in plants

Drought, high salinity and low temperature are major abiotic stresses that influence survival, productivity and geographical distribution of many important crops across the globe. Plants respond to these environmental challenges via physiological, cellular and molecular processes, which results in a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of genetics 2012-12, Vol.91 (3), p.385-395
Main Authors: AKHTAR, M, JAISWAL, A, TAJ, G, JAISWAL, J. P, QURESHI, M. I, SINGH, N. K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
abiotic stress
Acclimatization - genetics
Agricultural biotechnology
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Arabidopsis - genetics
Arabidopsis Proteins
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cold Temperature
Crop science
crops
DNA binding proteins
Drought
Evolutionary Biology
Gene expression
gene expression regulation
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Genes
Genetic engineering
Genetically modified organisms
geographical distribution
Life Sciences
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Models, Genetic
Plant Genetics and Genomics
Plant Proteins - genetics
Plant resistance
Plants - genetics
Protein binding
regulon
Review Article
Salinity
stress tolerance
temperature
Trans-Activators
transcription (genetics)
Transcription Factors
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Summary:Drought, high salinity and low temperature are major abiotic stresses that influence survival, productivity and geographical distribution of many important crops across the globe. Plants respond to these environmental challenges via physiological, cellular and molecular processes, which results in adjusted metabolic and structural alterations. The dehydration-responsive-element-binding (DREB) protein / C-repeat binding factors (CBFs) belong to APETALA2 (AP2) family transcription factors that bind to DRE/CRT cis-element and regulate the expression of stress-responsive genes. DREB1/CBF genes, therefore, play an important role in increasing stress tolerance in plants and their deployment using transgenic technology seems to be a potential alternative in management of abiotic stresses in crop plants. This review is mainly focussed on the structural characteristics as well as transcriptional regulation of gene expression in response to various abiotic stresses, with particular emphasis on the role of DREB1/CBF regulon in stress-responsive gene expression. The recent progress related to genetic engineering of DREB1/CBF transcription factors in various crops and model plants is also summarized.
ISSN:0022-1333
0973-7731
DOI:10.1007/s12041-012-0201-3