Cold-inducible promoter-driven knockdown of Brachypodium antifreeze proteins confers freezing and phytopathogen susceptibility.

ABSTRACT: The model forage crop, Brachypodium distachyon, has a cluster of ice recrystallization inhibition (BdIRI) genes, which encode antifreeze proteins that function by adsorbing to ice crystals and inhibiting their growth. The genes were targeted for knockdown using a cold-induced promoter from rice (prOsMYB1R35) to drive miRNA. The transgenic lines showed no apparent pleiotropic developmental defects but had reduced antifreeze activity as assessed by assays for ice-recrystallization inhibition, thermal hysteresis, electrolyte leakage, and leaf infrared thermography. Strikingly, the number of cold-acclimated transgenic plants that survived freezing at -8°C was reduced by half or killed entirely, depending on the line, compared with cold-acclimated wild type plants. In addit

SUBMITTER: Juurakko CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9467863 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature