biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 57:262-266, 2013 | DOI: 10.1007/s10535-012-0287-8

Over-expression of BcFLC1 from non-heading Chinese cabbage enhances cold tolerance in Arabidopsis

T. Liu^1,2,3, Y. Li^1,2,3, J. Ren^1,2,3, C. Zhang³, M. Kong^1,2,3, X. Song^1,2,3, J. Zhou^1,2,3, X. Hou^1,2,3,*

¹ State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, P.R. China

² Key Laboratory of Biology and Germplasm Enhancement of Horticultural Crops in East China, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, P.R. China

³ College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, P.R. China

A gene (named BcFLC1) homologous to the AtFLC gene, which encodes a floral repressor, was isolated from the nonheading Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp. chinensis) cv. NJ074. The gene showed high similarity to AtFLC. For studying the gene function, we designed to introduce the BcFLC1 gene into Arabidopsis thaliana. The results showed that BcFLC1 had effects on flowering time similar to AtFLC. We also found that Arabidopsis cold-tolerance was enhanced by BcFLC1 overexpression. Under low temperature stress, the BcFLC1 transgenic plants exhibited stronger growth than wild-type plants. The elevated cold tolerance of the BcFLC1 over-expressing plants was also confirmed by the changes of electrolyte leakage and malonyldialdehyde and proline content.

Keywords: Brassica campestris; electrolyte leakage; flowering; low temperature; malondialdehyde; proline

Subjects: gene expression; Chinese cabbage; stress tolerance; temperature low; electrolyte leakage; flowering; malondialdehyde; proline; transgenic plants; RT-PCR

Species: Arabidopsis thaliana; Brassica campestris

Received: October 4, 2011; Accepted: August 6, 2012; Published: June 1, 2013Show citation