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Published on: March 30, 2018
Arabidopsis COLD SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEIN 2 is a negative regulator of cold acclimation
Kentaro Sasaki1,2, Myung-Hee Kim1, Ryozo Imai1,2
1Hokkaido Agriculture Research Center, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Hitsujigaoka 1, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, 062-8555, Japan.
Abstract:
Bacterial cold shock proteins (CSPs) act as RNA chaperones that destabilize mRNA secondary structures at low temperatures. Bacterial CSPs are composed solely of a nucleic acid-binding domain termed the cold shock domain (CSD). Plant CSD proteins contain an auxiliary domain in addition to the CSD but also show RNA chaperone activity. However, their biological functions are poorly understood. We examined Arabidopsis COLD SHOCK DOMAIN PROTEIN 2 (AtCSP2) using overexpressing and mutant lines. A double mutant, with reduced AtCSP2 and no AtCSP4, showed higher freezing tolerance than the wild-type when cold-acclimated. The increase in freezing tolerance was associated with up-regulation of CBF transcription factors and their downstream genes. By contrast, overexpression of AtCSP2 resulted in decreased freezing tolerance when cold-acclimated. In addition, late flowering and shorter siliques were observed in the overexpressing lines. AtCSP2 negatively regulates freezing tolerance and is partially redundant with its closest paralog, AtCSP4.
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