AtERF#111/ABR1 is a transcriptional activator involved in the wounding response

Titelangaben

Bäumler, Judith ; Riber, Willi ; Klecker, Maria ; Müller, Leon ; Dissemeyer, Nico ; Weig, Alfons ; Mustroph, Angelika:
AtERF#111/ABR1 is a transcriptional activator involved in the wounding response.
In: The Plant Journal. Bd. 100 (2019) Heft 5 . - S. 969-990.
ISSN 1365-313X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14490

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Abstract

AtERF#111/ABR1 belongs to the group X of the ERF/AP2 transcription factor family (GXERFs) and is shoot specifically induced under submergence and hypoxia. It was described to be an ABA‐response repressor, but our data reveal a completely different function. Surprisingly, AtERF#111 expression is strongly responsive to wounding stress. Expression profiling of ERF#111‐overexpressing (OE) plants, which show morphological phenotypes like increased root hair length and number, strengthens the hypothesis of AtERF#111 being involved in the wounding response, thereby acting as a transcriptional activator of gene expression. Consistent with a potential function outside of oxygen signalling, we could not assign AtERF#111 as a target of the PRT6 N‐degron pathway, even though it starts with a highly conserved N‐terminal Met−Cys (MC) motif. However, the protein is unstable as it is degraded in an ubiquitin‐dependent manner. Finally, direct target genes of AtERF#111 were identified by microarray analyses and subsequently confirmed by protoplast transactivation assays. The special roles of diverse members of the plant‐specific GXERFs in coordinating stress signalling and wound repair mechanisms have been recently hypothesized, and our data suggest that AtERF#111 is indeed involved in these processes.