Yifeng Wang

Title : ABF1 positively regulates rice chilling tolerance via inducing trehalose biosynthesis

Abstract:

Chilling stress seriously limits grain yield and quality worldwide. However, the genes and the underlying mechanisms that respond to chilling stress remain elusive. This study identified ABF1, a cold-induced transcription factor of the bZIP family. Disruption of ABF1 impaired chilling tolerance with increased ion leakage and reduced proline contents, while ABF1 over-expression lines exhibited the opposite tendency, suggesting that ABF1 positively regulated chilling tolerance in rice. Moreover, SnRK2 protein kinase SAPK10 could phosphorylate ABF1, and strengthen the DNA-binding ability of ABF1 to the G-box cis-element of the promoter of TPS2, a positive regulator of trehalose biosynthesis, consequently elevating the TPS2 transcription and the endogenous trehalose contents. Meanwhile, applying exogenous trehalose enhanced the chilling tolerance of abf1 mutant lines. In summary, this study provides a novel pathway ‘SAPK10-ABF1-TPS2’ involved in rice chilling tolerance through regulating trehalose homeostasis.

Biography:

Dr. Wang Yifeng is an associate researcher and master tutor at China Rice Research Institute. He graduated from Shangdong University, China, with a bachelor's degree in biotechnology in 2009; In 2014, he graduated from Zhejiang University, China, majoring in botany; He worked at the China Rice Research Institute in 2015. He is mainly engaged in cloning and functional research of genes related to seed dormancy and germination. He presided over projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, and the Key R&D project of Zhejiang Province. As the first/co-first/corresponding author, he has published 14 articles in New Phytologist, Journal of Experimental Botany, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, and other magazines, with a cumulative impact factor of>40. As the principal author, he has published 15 papers in Molecular Plant, Plant Cell, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Plant Physiology, and other magazines and has obtained 6 invention patents.
Research fields: cloning, functional research, and breeding utilization of genes related to rice dormancy and germination.