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Tomato bZIP60 mRNA undergoes splicing in endoplasmic reticulum stress and in response to environmental stresses
Navpreet Kaur1, Pramod Kaitheri Kandoth1
1National Agri-food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali, Punjab, India.
Abstract:
Environmental stresses activate endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response pathways, collectively known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). IRE1/bZIP60 pathway is the most conserved of all UPR pathways from yeast to plants. Transcription factor bZIP60 is activated by the cytoplasmic splicing of its mRNA by Inositol Requiring Enzyme1 (IRE1) protein. bZIP60 mRNA has a typical stem-loop structure that is required for its splicing by IRE1 ribonuclease. We identified the tomato bZIP60 (SlbZIP60) and secondary structure prediction showed that it has the conserved stem-loop structure. Further, we demonstrate that SlbZIP60 is spliced upon treatment with an ER stress-inducing agent, tunicamycin. Tunicamycin also upregulated the expression of SlbZIP60. Finally, we show that SlbZIP60 undergo physiologically activated splicing in certain tissues of the plant and respond to environmental stresses, heat, and virus infection. This study will help for a deeper understanding of ER stress pathways and how they contribute to the stress tolerance of tomato, one of the important vegetable crops, cultivated under varied environmental conditions.
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