Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The stress- and abscisic acid-induced barley gene HVA22: developmental regulation and homologues in diverse organisms

  • Published:
Plant Molecular Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Abscisic acid (ABA) induces the expression of a battery of genes in mediating plant responses to environmental stresses. Here we report one of the early ABA-inducible genes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), HVA22, which shares little homology with other ABA-responsive genes such as LEA (late embryogenesis-abundant) and RAB (responsive to ABA) genes. In grains, the expression of HVA22 gene appears to be correlated with the dormancy status. The level of HVA22 mRNA increases during grain development, and declines to an undetectable level within 12 h after imbibition of non-dormant grains. In contrast, the HVA22 mRNA level remains high in dormant grains even after five days of imbibition. Treatment of dormant grains with gibberellin (GA) effectively breaks dormancy with a concomitant decline of the level of HVA22 mRNA. The expression of HVA22 appears to be tissue-specific with the level of its mRNA readily detectable in aleurone layers and embryos, yet undetectable in the starchy endosperm. The expression of HVA22 in vegetative tissues can be induced by ABA and environmental stresses, such as cold and drought. Apparent homologues of this barley gene are found in phylogenetically divergent eukaryotic organisms, including cereals, Arabidopsis, Caenorhabitis elegans, man, mouse and yeast, but not in any prokaryotes. Interestingly, similar to barley HVA22, the yeast homologue is also stress-inducible. These observations suggest that the HVA22 and its homologues encode a highly conserved stress-inducible protein which may play an important role in protecting cells from damage under stress conditions in many eukaryotic organisms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abel, S., Nguyen, M.D. and Theologis, A. 1995. The PS-IAA4/5-like family of early auxin-inducible mRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana. J. Mol. Biol. 251: 533–549.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartels, R.J., Singh, M. and Salamini, F. 1988. Onset of desiccation tolerance during development of the barley embryo. Planta 175: 485–492.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartels, D., Engelhardt, K., Roncarati, R., Schneider, K., Rotter, M. and Salamini, F. 1991. An ABA and GA modulated gene expressed in the barley embryo encodes an aldose reductase related protein. EMBO J. 10: 1037–1043.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belanger, F.C., Brodl, M.R. and Ho, T.H.D. 1986. Heat shock causes destabilization of specific mRNAs and destruction of endoplasmic reticulum in barley aleurone cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83: 1354–1358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bornman, C.H. and Jansson, E. 1980. Nicotiana tabacum callus studies. X. ABA increases resistance to cold damage. Physiol. Plant. 48: 491–493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bray, E.A. and Beachy, R.N. 1985. Regulation by ABA of β-conglycinin expression in cultured developing soybean cotyledons. Plant Physiol. 79: 746–750.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewster, J., de Valoir, T., Dwyer, N., Winter, E. and Gustin, M. 1993. An osmosensing signal transduction pathway in yeast. Science 259: 1760–1763.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, W.B. and Quail, P.H. 1990. cis-Acting elements involved in photoregulation of an oat phytochrome promoter in rice. Plant Cell 2: 1081–1089.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chao, W.S., Gu, Y.Q., Pautot, V., Bray, E.A. and Walling, L.L. 1999. LapA RNAs, proteins, and activities increased in response to systemin, methyl jasmonate, abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene, water deficit, and salinity in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Plant Physiol. 120: 979–992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, T.H.H. and Gusta, L.V. 1983. Abscisic acid-induced freezing resistance in cultured plant cells. Plant Physiol. 73: 71–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, J. and Varner, J.E. 1985. An extracellular matrix protein in plants: characterization of a genomic clone for carrot extensin. EMBO J. 4: 2145–2151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, H.H., Li, P.H. and Brenner, M.L. 1983. Involvement of abscisic acid in potato cold acclimation. Plant Physiol. 71: 362–365.

    Google Scholar 

  • Church, G.M. and Gilbert, W. 1984. Genomic sequencing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 1991–1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. and Bray, E.A. 1990. Characterization of three mRNAs that accumulate in wilted tomato leaves in response to elevated levels of endogenous abscisic acid. Planta 182: 27–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crouch, M.L. and Sussex, I.M. 1981. Development and storage–protein synthesis in Brassica napus L. embryos in vivo and in vitro. Planta 153: 64–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devereux, J., Haeberli, P. and Smithies, O. 1984. A comprehensive set of sequence analysis programs for the VAX. Nucl. Acids Res. 12: 387–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dure, L. III, Crouch, M., Harada, J., Ho, T.H.D., Mundy, J., Quatrano, R.S., Thomas, T. and Sung, Z.R. 1989. Common amino acid sequence domains among the LEA proteins of higher plants. Plant Mol. Biol. 12: 475–486.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ecker, J.R. and Davis, R.W. 1987. Plant defense genes are regulated by ethylene. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84: 5202–5206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D.R. and Mahadevan, L.C. 1992. Protein synthesis inhibitors differentially superinduce c-fos and c-jun by three distinct mechanisms: lack of evidence for labile repressors. EMBO J. 7: 2415–2424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fong, F., Koehler, D.E. and Smith, J.D. 1983. Fluridone induction of vivipary during maize seed development. In: J.E. Druger and D.E. LaBerge (Eds.) Third International Symposium on Pre-harvest Sprouting in Cereals, Westview Press, Boulder, CO., pp. 188–196.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franco, A.R., Gee, M.A. and Guilfoyle, T.J. 1990. Induction and superinduction of auxin-responsive mRNAs with auxin and protein synthesis inhibitors. J. Biol. Chem. 265: 15845–15849.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaubier, P., Raynal, M., Hull, G., Huestis, G., Grellet, F., Arenas, C., Pagès, M. and Delseny, M. 1993. Two different Emlike genes are expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds during maturation. Mol. Gen. Genet. 238: 409–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilman, M. 1989. Ribonuclease protection assay. In: F.M. Ausubel, R. Brent, R.E. Kingston, D.D. Moore, J.G. Seidman, J.A. Smith and K. Struhl (Eds.) Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, John Wiley, New York, pp. 471–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hatzopoulos, P., Franz, G., Choy, L. and Sung, R.Z. 1990. Interaction of nuclear factors with upstream sequences of a lipid body membrane protein gene from carrot. Plant Cell 2: 457–467.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hays, D.B., Wilen, R.W., Sheng, C., Moloney, M.M. and Pharis, R.P. 1999. Embryo-specific gene expression in microspore-derived embryos of Brassica napus. An interaction between abscisic acid and jasmonic acid. Plant Physiol. 119: 1065–1072.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hong, B., Uknes, S.J. and Ho, T.H.D. 1988. Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding a mRNA rapidly-induced by ABA in barley aleurone layers. Plant Mol. Biol. 11:495–506.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hong, B., Barg, R. and Ho, T.H.D. 1992. Developmental and organ-specific expression of an ABA-and stress-induced protein in barley. Plant Mol. Biol. 18: 663–674.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobsen, J.V. and Shaw, D.C. 1989. Heat-stable proteins and abscisic acid action in barley aleurone layers. Plant Physiol. 91: 1520–1526.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koehler, S.M. and Ho, T.H.D. 1990. Hormonal regulation, processing, and secretion of cysteine proteinases in barley aleurone layers. Plant Cell 2: 769–783.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koornneef, M., Jorna, M.L., Brinkhorst-van der Swan, D.L.C. and Karssen, C.M. 1982. The isolation of abscisic acid (ABA) deficient mutants by selection of induced revertants in non-germinating gibberellin sensitive lines of Arabidopsis thaliana L. Heynh. Theor. Appl. Genet. 61: 385–393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lachno, E.R. and Baker, D.A. 1986. Stress induction of abscisic acid in maize roots. Physiol. Plant. 68: 215–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanahan, M.B., Ho, T.H.D., Rogers, S.W. and Rogers, J.C. 1992. A gibberellin response complex in cereal α-amylase gene promoters. Plant Cell 4: 203–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leah, R. and Mundy, J. 1989. The bifunctional α-amylase/subtilisin inhibitor of barley: nucleotide sequence and patterns of seed specific expression. Plant Mol. Biol. 12: 673–682.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, L.S. and Ho, T.H.D. 1986. Mode of action of abscisic acid in barley aleurone layers: induction of new proteins by abscisic acid. Plant Physiol. 82: 289–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludevid, M.D., Freire, M.A., Gomez, J., Burd, C.G., Albericio, F., Giralt, E., Dreyfuss, G. and Pagès, M. 1992. RNA binding characteristics of a 16 kDa glycine-rich protein from maize. Plant J. 2: 999–1003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, C.F., Anderberg, R.J., Goldmark, P.J. and Walker-Simmons, M.K. 1991. Molecular cloning and expression of abscisic acid-responsive genes in embryos of dormant wheat seeds. Plant Physiol. 95: 814–821.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, J. and Chua, N.H. 1988. Abscisic acid and water-stress induce the expression of a novel rice gene. EMBO J. 7: 2279–2286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, J., Hejgaard, J., Hansen, A., Hallgren, L., Jorgensen, K.G. and Munck, L. 1986. Differential synthesis in vitro of barley aleurone and starchy endosperm proteins. Plant Physiol.81: 630–636.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nolan, R.C., Lin, L.S. and Ho, T.H.D. 1987. The effect of abscisic acid on the differential expression of α-amylase isozymes in barley aleurone layers. Plant Mol. Biol. 8: 13–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nordin, K., Heino, P. and Palva, E.T. 1991. Separate signal pathways regulate the expression of a low-temperature-induced gene in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Plant Mol. Biol. 16: 1061–1071.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plana, M., Itarte, E., Eritja, R., Goday, A., Pagès, M. and Martinez, M.C. 1991. Phosphorylation of maize RAB-17 protein by casein kinase 2. J. Biol. Chem. 266: 22510–22514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Porta, H., Rueda-Benitez, P., Campos, F., Colmenero-Flores, J.M., Colorado, J.M., Carmona, M.J., Covarrubias, A.A. and Rocha-Sosa, M. 1999. Analysis of lipoxygenase mRNA accumulation in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) during development and under stress conditions. Plant Cell Physiol. 40: 850–858.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robichaud, C.S., Wong, J. and Sussex, I.M. 1980. Control of in vitro growth of viviparous embryo mutants of maize by abscisic acid. Dev. Genet. 1: 325–330.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, J.C. and Milliman, C. 1983. Isolation and sequence analysis of a barley α-amylase cDNA clone. J. Biol. Chem. 258: 8169–8174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E.F. and Maniatis, T. 1989. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Plainview, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Segev, N. 1991. Mediation of the attachment or fusion step in vesicular transport by the GTP-binding Ypt1 protein. Science 252: 1553–1556

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen, Q. and Ho, T.H.D. 1995. Functional dissection of an abscisic acid (ABA)-inducible gene reveals two independent ABA-responsive complexes each containing a G-box and a novel cis-acting element. Plant Cell 7: 295–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen, Q., Uknes, S.J. and Ho, T.H.D. 1993. Hormone response complex of a novel abscisic acid cycloheximide inducible barley gene. J. Biol. Chem.268: 23652–23660

    Google Scholar 

  • Shen, Q., Zhang, P. and Ho, T.H.D. 1996. Modular nature of abscisic acid (ABA) response complexes: composite promoter units which are necessary and sufficient for ABA induction of gene expression in barley. Plant Cell 8: 1107–1119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shi, L., Gast, R.T., Gopalrai, M. and Olszewski, N.E. 1992. Characterization of a shoot-specific, GA3-and ABA-regulated gene from tomato. Plant J. 2: 153–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singh, N.K., LaRosa, P.C., Handa, A.K., Hasegawa, P.M. and Bressan, R.A. 1987. Hormonal regulation of protein synthesis associated with salt tolerance in plant cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84: 739–743.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vance, V.B. and Huang, A.H.C. 1988. The expression of lipid body protein gene during seed development. J. Biol. Chem. 263: 1476–1481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilardell, J., Goday, A., Freire, M.A., Torrent, M., Martínez, M.C., Torné, J.M. and Pagès, M. 1990. Gene sequence, developmental expression, and protein phosphorylation of RAB-17 in maize. Plant Mol. Biol. 14: 423–432.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K., Mino, M., Mundy, J. and Chua, N.H. 1990. Analysis of an ABA-responsive rice gene promoter in transgenic tobacco. Plant Mol. Biol. 15: 905–912.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamaguchi-Shinozaki, K. and Shinozaki, K. 1994. A novel cis-acting element in an Arabidopsis gene is involved in responsiveness to drought, low-temperature, or high-salt stress. Plant Cell 6: 251–264.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Biology Program, Department of Biology, Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Qingxi Shen, Alex Brands & David Ho Tuan-Hua

  2. Department of Botany, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Ching-Nen Chen & Shu-Mei Pan

Authors
  1. Qingxi Shen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ching-Nen Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Alex Brands
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shu-Mei Pan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. David Ho Tuan-Hua
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Shen, Q., Chen, CN., Brands, A. et al. The stress- and abscisic acid-induced barley gene HVA22: developmental regulation and homologues in diverse organisms. Plant Mol Biol 45, 327–340 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006460231978

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006460231978

Search

Navigation