Redundant ERF-VII Transcription Factors Bind to an Evolutionarily Conserved cis-Motif to Regulate Hypoxia-Responsive Gene Expression in Arabidopsis

The response of Arabidopsis thaliana to low-oxygen stress (hypoxia), such as during shoot submergence or root waterlogging, includes increasing the levels of ∼50 hypoxia-responsive gene transcripts, many of which encode enzymes associated with anaerobic metabolism. Upregulation of over half of these mRNAs involves stabilization of five group VII ethylene response factor (ERF-VII) transcription factors, which are routinely degraded via the N-end rule pathway of proteolysis in an oxygen- and nitric oxide-dependent manner. Despite their importance, neither the quantitative contribution of individual ERF-VIIs nor the cis-regulatory elements they govern are well understood. Here, using single- and double-null mutants, the constitutively synthesized ERF-VIIs RELATED TO APETALA2.2 (RAP2.2) and RAP2.12 are shown to act redundantly as principle activators of hypoxia-responsive genes; constitutively expressed RAP2.3 contributes to this redundancy, whereas the hypoxia-induced HYPOXIA RESPONSIVE ERF1 (HRE1) and HRE2 play minor roles. An evolutionarily conserved 12-bp cis-regulatory motif that binds to and is sufficient for activation by RAP2.2 and RAP2.12 is identified through a comparative phylogenetic motif search, promoter dissection, yeast one-hybrid assays, and chromatin immunopurification. This motif, designated the hypoxia-responsive promoter element, is enriched in promoters of hypoxia-responsive genes in multiple species.