Biotic and Abiotic Stress-Related Expression of 1-Aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylate Oxidase Gene Family in Nicotiana glutinosa L.

Three full length 1-aminocyclopropane-l-carboxylate (ACC) oxidase cDNA clones (pNG-ACOl, 1,254 bp; pNG-ACO2,1,198 bp; and pNG-ACO3,1,053 bp) were isolated from the TMV-treated leaf cDNA library of Nicotiana glutinosa plant. They share a high degree of sequence identity (78–81%) throughout the coding regions but are divergent within the 3′-untranslated regions. The gene-specific probes were prepared using these regions to investigate the differential expression of the ACC oxidase gene family in various organs and in response to a multitude of biotic and abiotic stresses in N. glutinosa plants. All three genes were transcriptionally active displaying unique patterns of expression. Both the pNG-ACOl and pNG-ACO3 transcripts highly accumulated during the senescence of leaves, while the pNG-ACO2 mRNA was constitutively present. In addition, the NG-ACO1 and NG-ACO3 transcripts were predominantly found in roots whereas the NG-ACO2 mRNA was mainly in stems. Upon TMV infection, both NG-ACO1 and NG-ACO3 were markedly induced, but in mock treatment which has an effect of mild wounding, only the NG-ACO3 gene was induced. Furthermore, salicylic acid and CuSO4 treatments of leaves increased the level of NG-ACO1 and NG-ACO3 transcripts, while they did not affect the NG-ACO2 gene expression. Results showed that both the NG-ACO1 and NG-ACO3 genes were highly inducible by ethylene and methyl jasmonate treatments, with NG-ACO3 being more responsive. By contrast, NG-ACO2 did not respond to these growth regulators. Thus, it appears that there are two groups of ACC oxidase transcripts expressed in leaf tissue of N. glutinosa, either stress-induced or constitutive. The possible molecular mechanism of differential regulation of ACC oxidase gene expression and its physiological significance are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]