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Mol. Cells 2010; 29(2): 159-165

Published online January 12, 2010

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10059-010-0025-z

© The Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology

Constitutive Overexpression of the Calcium Sensor CBL5 Confers Osmotic or Drought Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis

Yong Hwa Cheong1,2,*, Sun Jin Sung2, Beom-Gi Kim1,3, Girdhar K. Pandey1,4, Ju-Sik Cho2, Kyung-Nam Kim1,5, and Sheng Luan1,*

1Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA, 2Department of Bio-Environmental Science, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 540-742, Korea, 3Bio-Crops Development Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-707, Korea, 4Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India, 5Department of Molecular Biology, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Korea

Correspondence to : *Correspondence: yhcheong@sunchon.ac.kr (YHC); sluan@berkeley.edu (SL)

Received: August 31, 2009; Revised: October 30, 2009; Accepted: November 2, 2009

Abstract

Calcium serves as a critical messenger in many adaptation and developmental processes. Cellular calcium signals are detected and transmitted by sensor molecules such as calcium-binding proteins. In plants, the calcineurin B-like protein (CBL) family represents a unique group of calcium sensors and plays a key role in decoding calcium transients by specifically interacting with and regulating a family of CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). In this study, we report the role of Arabidopsis CBL5 gene in high salt or drought tolerance. CBL5 gene is expressed significantly in green tissues, but not in roots. CBL5 was not induced by abiotic stress conditions such as high salt, drought or low temperature. To determine whether the CBL5 gene plays a role in stress response pathways, we ectopically expressed the CBL5 protein in transgenic Arabidopsis plants (35S-CBL5) and examined plant responses to abiotic stresses. CBL5-overexpressing plants displayed enhanced tolerance to high salt or drought stress. CBL5 overexpression also rendered plants more resistant to high salt or hyperosmotic stress during early development (i.e., seed germination) but did not alter their response to abiscisic acid (ABA). Furthermore, overexpression of CBL5 alters the gene expression of stress gene markers, such as RD29A, RD29B and Kin1 etc. These results suggest that CBL5 may function as a positive regulator of salt or drought responses in plants.

Keywords calcium sensor, drought, osmotic stress, resistance, transgenic plants

Article

Research Article

Mol. Cells 2010; 29(2): 159-165

Published online February 28, 2010 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10059-010-0025-z

Copyright © The Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology.

Constitutive Overexpression of the Calcium Sensor CBL5 Confers Osmotic or Drought Stress Tolerance in Arabidopsis

Yong Hwa Cheong1,2,*, Sun Jin Sung2, Beom-Gi Kim1,3, Girdhar K. Pandey1,4, Ju-Sik Cho2, Kyung-Nam Kim1,5, and Sheng Luan1,*

1Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA, 2Department of Bio-Environmental Science, Sunchon National University, Suncheon 540-742, Korea, 3Bio-Crops Development Division, National Academy of Agricultural Science, Rural Development Administration, Suwon 441-707, Korea, 4Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, New Delhi 110021, India, 5Department of Molecular Biology, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Korea

Correspondence to:*Correspondence: yhcheong@sunchon.ac.kr (YHC); sluan@berkeley.edu (SL)

Received: August 31, 2009; Revised: October 30, 2009; Accepted: November 2, 2009

Abstract

Calcium serves as a critical messenger in many adaptation and developmental processes. Cellular calcium signals are detected and transmitted by sensor molecules such as calcium-binding proteins. In plants, the calcineurin B-like protein (CBL) family represents a unique group of calcium sensors and plays a key role in decoding calcium transients by specifically interacting with and regulating a family of CBL-interacting protein kinases (CIPKs). In this study, we report the role of Arabidopsis CBL5 gene in high salt or drought tolerance. CBL5 gene is expressed significantly in green tissues, but not in roots. CBL5 was not induced by abiotic stress conditions such as high salt, drought or low temperature. To determine whether the CBL5 gene plays a role in stress response pathways, we ectopically expressed the CBL5 protein in transgenic Arabidopsis plants (35S-CBL5) and examined plant responses to abiotic stresses. CBL5-overexpressing plants displayed enhanced tolerance to high salt or drought stress. CBL5 overexpression also rendered plants more resistant to high salt or hyperosmotic stress during early development (i.e., seed germination) but did not alter their response to abiscisic acid (ABA). Furthermore, overexpression of CBL5 alters the gene expression of stress gene markers, such as RD29A, RD29B and Kin1 etc. These results suggest that CBL5 may function as a positive regulator of salt or drought responses in plants.

Keywords: calcium sensor, drought, osmotic stress, resistance, transgenic plants

Mol. Cells
Mar 31, 2023 Vol.46 No.3, pp. 131~189
COVER PICTURE
The physiologically important cytoprotective signaling in normal cells (background area in turquoise) mediated by NRF2 (blue chain) is often hijacked by cancer cells (red ball) in the tumor microenvironment (yellow area). However, the differential roles of NRF2 throughout the multistage carcinogenesis remains largely unresolved (white-colored overlapping misty areas).

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