Expression profiles and transactivation analysis of a novel ethylene-responsive transcription factor gene GhERF5 from cotton

Plant AP2/EREBP transcription factors play important roles in plant development and in plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. A novel gene for ethylene-responsive element binding protein (EREBP), designated GhERF5, which encodes a protein of 255 amino acids, was isolated by RACE-PCR from cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) seedlings. Sequence alignment revealed that GhERF5 contains a typical AP2/ERF domain, and belongs to the B3 subgroup of the ERF subfamily. Particle bombardment assay showed that GhERF5 functions as an in vivo transcription activator in tobacco cells, and it is located in the nuclei of onion epidermis cells. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed that the expression of GhERF5 was highly and rapidly induced when plants were treated with exogenous ethylene, abscisic acid (ABA), salt, cold and drought. Promoter analysis indicated that there are conserved cis-acting elements induced by these stresses in the 5′-upstream region of the GhERF5 gene. These results suggest that the GhERF5 gene might play an important role in cotton response to ethylene, ABA and environmental stresses.