EXPRESSION OF THE PLANT DNA GLYCOSYLASEHOMOLOGUE ACDI ON DEVELOPMENT AND STRESS

NOTA F; RIBONE, P; ALVAREZ ME

Buenos Aires

Congreso; XLIX Reunión Anual SAIB; 2013

DNA glycosylases remove modified bases from DNA participating in the Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway. We are studying the still uncharacterized Arabidopsis gene encoding the DNA glycosylase-homologue ACDI. We found that, by alternative splicing, ADCI may generate two proteins that conserve the glycosylase domain but differ in their nuclear localization motives. Using ACDIGFP transgenic plants we observed one of these proteins located at the nucleus. Studying ACDI:GUS plants we monitored the expression of the gene in different plant tissues and developmental stages, as well as under stress conditions. We observed that ACDI expression is highly regulated during plant development and is particularly induced on water-devoid tissues. This pattern was consistent with the presence of elements sensitive to dehydration on the ACDI promoter region. Interestingly, ACDI over-expressing plants are tolerant to salinity and oxidative stress suggesting this glycosylase-homologue modulates plant stress responses. Putative effects of ACDI under these conditions will be discussed