Abstract
ERFs (Ethylene-Responsive transcription Factors) are regulators of many pathogenesis-related (PR) genes whose expressions are induced by ethylene. ERFs bind to a cis-acting GCC box element that exists in the promoter regions of these PR genes via ERF domain. Whereas four ERFs have been so far identified in tobacco, each ERF has different function: ERF1, ERF2 and ERF4 are transcriptional activators, whereas ERF3 is a transcriptional repressor.
To elucidate how these ERFs interact with each other and control the expressions of PR genes in downstream, we tried to generate the transgenic tobacco with reduced expression of each ERF. We prepared RNAi vector and transformed tobacco. After several transformations, 6 ERF3 RNAi transformants and 8 ERF4 RNAi transformants were obtained. And 3 & 4 transformants showed reduced expression of ERF3 and ERF4, respectively. The effect of gene silencing of ERF3/4 on the expression of ERF/PR genes is on going.
