Arabidopsis heat shock transcription factor HSFA7b positively mediates salt stress tolerance by binding to an E-box-like motif to regulate gene expression.

ABSTRACT: Plant heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) are involved in heat and other abiotic stress responses. However, their functions in salt tolerance are little known. In this study, we characterized the function of a HSF from Arabidopsis, AtHSFA7b, in salt tolerance. AtHSFA7b is a nuclear protein with transactivation activity. ChIP-seq combined with an RNA-seq assay indicated that AtHSFA7b preferentially binds to a novel cis-acting element, termed the E-box-like motif, to regulate gene expression; it also binds to the heat shock element motif. Under salt conditions, AtHSFA7b regulates its target genes to mediate serial physiological changes, including maintaining cellular ion homeostasis, reducing water loss rate, decreasing reactive oxygen species accumulation, and adjusting osmotic potentia

SUBMITTER: Zang D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6793466 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature