Skip to main content
PMC home page
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1993 Apr;101(4):1275–1282. doi: 10.1104/pp.101.4.1275

cDNA sequence, expression, and transcript stability of a cold acclimation-specific gene, cas18, of alfalfa (Medicago falcata) cells.

L A Wolfraim 1, R Langis 1, H Tyson 1, R S Dhindsa 1
PMCID: PMC160650  PMID: 8310062

Abstract

The nucleotide sequence of a full-length cDNA, the deduced amino acid sequence, and the regulation of expression of a cold acclimation-specific gene, cas18, in cell suspension cultures of a freezing-tolerant cultivar of alfalfa (Medicago falcata cv Anik) have been determined. The deduced polypeptide, CAS18, is relatively small (17.6 kD), is highly hydrophilic, is rich in glycine and threonine, and contains two distinctive repeat elements. It exhibits homology with members of the LEA/RAB/dehydrin family of proteins, which accumulate in response to abscisic acid (ABA) or water stress. It is intriguing that cas18 is induced by neither ABA nor water stress. The cas18 cDNA hybridizes to three transcripts of 1.6, 1.4, and 1.0 kb, and the cDNA characterized here corresponds to the 1.0-kb transcript. The expression of this gene is about 30-fold greater in cold-acclimated cells than in nonacclimated cells. Although the accumulation of transcripts during cold acclimation is relatively slow, their disappearance during deacclimation is dramatically rapid, becoming undetectable in less than 5 h. Studies of nuclear run-on transcription show that cold acclimation enhances the transcription of this gene nearly 9-fold. The stability of cas18-detectable transcripts during deacclimation is considerably increased if transcription is inhibited with cordycepin. It therefore appears that low temperature regulates the expression of cas18 at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.9 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Cattivelli L., Bartels D. Molecular cloning and characterization of cold-regulated genes in barley. Plant Physiol. 1990 Aug;93(4):1504–1510. doi: 10.1104/pp.93.4.1504. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chomczynski P., Sacchi N. Single-step method of RNA isolation by acid guanidinium thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction. Anal Biochem. 1987 Apr;162(1):156–159. doi: 10.1006/abio.1987.9999. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Christie P. J., Hahn M., Walbot V. Low-temperature accumulation of alcohol dehydrogenase-1 mRNA and protein activity in maize and rice seedlings. Plant Physiol. 1991 Mar;95(3):699–706. doi: 10.1104/pp.95.3.699. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Close T. J., Kortt A. A., Chandler P. M. A cDNA-based comparison of dehydration-induced proteins (dehydrins) in barley and corn. Plant Mol Biol. 1989 Jul;13(1):95–108. doi: 10.1007/BF00027338. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Delisle A. J., Crouch M. L. Seed Storage Protein Transcription and mRNA Levels in Brassica napus during Development and in Response to Exogenous Abscisic Acid. Plant Physiol. 1989 Oct;91(2):617–623. doi: 10.1104/pp.91.2.617. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fritz C. C., Herget T., Wolter F. P., Schell J., Schreier P. H. Reduced steady-state levels of rbcS mRNA in plants kept in the dark are due to differential degradation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 May 15;88(10):4458–4462. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.10.4458. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Godoy J. A., Pardo J. M., Pintor-Toro J. A. A tomato cDNA inducible by salt stress and abscisic acid: nucleotide sequence and expression pattern. Plant Mol Biol. 1990 Nov;15(5):695–705. doi: 10.1007/BF00016120. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hajela R. K., Horvath D. P., Gilmour S. J., Thomashow M. F. Molecular Cloning and Expression of cor (Cold-Regulated) Genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiol. 1990 Jul;93(3):1246–1252. doi: 10.1104/pp.93.3.1246. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kurkela S., Franck M. Cloning and characterization of a cold- and ABA-inducible Arabidopsis gene. Plant Mol Biol. 1990 Jul;15(1):137–144. doi: 10.1007/BF00017731. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Li-Weber M, de Groot E J, Schweiger H G. Sequence homology to the Drosophila per locus in higher plant nuclear DNA and in Acetabularia chloroplast DNA. Mol Gen Genet. 1987 Aug;209(1):1–7. doi: 10.1007/BF00329828. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mohapatra S. S., Poole R. J., Dhindsa R. S. Abscisic Acid-regulated gene expression in relation to freezing tolerance in alfalfa. Plant Physiol. 1988 Jun;87(2):468–473. doi: 10.1104/pp.87.2.468. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schaffer M. A., Fischer R. L. Analysis of mRNAs that Accumulate in Response to Low Temperature Identifies a Thiol Protease Gene in Tomato. Plant Physiol. 1988 Jun;87(2):431–436. doi: 10.1104/pp.87.2.431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Shin H. S., Bargiello T. A., Clark B. T., Jackson F. R., Young M. W. An unusual coding sequence from a Drosophila clock gene is conserved in vertebrates. Nature. 1985 Oct 3;317(6036):445–448. doi: 10.1038/317445a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES