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An ethylene response factor (ERF5) promoting adaptation to drought and salt tolerance in tomato

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Abstract

A novel member of the AP2/ERF transcription factor family, SlERF5, was identified from a tomato mature leaf cDNA library screen. The complete DNA sequence of SlERF5 encodes a putative 244-amino acid DNA-binding protein which most likely acts as a transcriptional regulator and is a member of the ethylene responsive factor (ERF) superfamily. Analysis of the deduced SlERF5 protein sequence showed that it contained an ERF domain and belonged to the class III group of ERFs proteins. Expression of SlERF5 was induced by abiotic stress, such as high salinity, drought, flooding, wounding and cold temperatures. Over-expression of SlERF5 in transgenic tomato plants resulted in high tolerance to drought and salt stress and increased levels of relative water content compared with wild-type plants. This study indicates that SlERF5 is mainly involved in the responses to abiotic stress in tomato.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grant numbers (30471180, 31000911) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. CDJZR10230018) and China Scholarship Scheme (CSC). Dr. Mike Davey and Dr. Natalie Chapman provided constructive comments on this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Bioengineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, People’s Republic of China

    Yu Pan, Zongli Hu & Guo** Chen

  2. Plant and Crop Sciences Division, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK

    Yu Pan & Graham B. Seymour

  3. Multidisciplinary Centre for Integrative Biology, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK

    Chungui Lu

  4. Bei**g Agro-Biotechnology Research Center, Bei**g, 100097, People’s Republic of China

    Xuqing Chen

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  1. Yu Pan
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Correspondence to Guo** Chen.

Additional information

Communicated by B. Li.

The accession number for the ethylene response factor5 (ERF5) cDNA nucleotide sequence is AY559315, which was previously named tomato ERF5 gene (LeERF5), is now renamed SlERF5; the accession number for tobacco EREBP4 (ERF4) cDNA nucleotide sequence is D38125.

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Pan, Y., Seymour, G.B., Lu, C. et al. An ethylene response factor (ERF5) promoting adaptation to drought and salt tolerance in tomato. Plant Cell Rep 31, 349–360 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-011-1170-3

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