Abstract
To elucidate the mechanism of signal transduction pathway in response to high-light (HL) and oxidative stress, we isolated HL-responsive genes, like a novel heat shock transcription factor (putative HSF), by suppression subtractive hybridization. The transcription level of putative HSF was increased by various types of abiotic stress. These results suggest that putative HSF may be associated with the signaling pathway in response to various types of environmental stress. In this study, we investigated the gene regulation system via the putative HSF in Arabidopsis plants.
In transgenic plants overexpressing the putative HSF cDNA, target genes of putative HSF, including several defense genes, were expressed. The transcription levels of the putative HSF target genes were rapidly increased in response to HL stress. At present, we are attempting to identify a cis-acting element for putative HSF and the downstream genes of putative HSF in transgenic plants using microarray system.
