Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel cold-regulated gene from Capsella bursa-pastoris

A novel cor gene was cloned from Capsella bursapastoris (designated Cbcor15b) by RACE-PCR. The full-length cDNA of Cbcor15b was 652 bp and contained a 417 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 139-amino acid hydrophilic protein. Multiple alignments showed that Cbcor15b had high similarity with other cold-regulated genes from Arabidopsis thaliana (cor15b, cor15a), Brassica napus (bn115, bn19 and bn26) and genes encoding late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins. The predicted CbCOR15B protein was found to have a potential chloroplast signal sequence cleavage site, two cAMP- and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA and PKG) phosphorylation sites. Cold acclimation assay showed that Cbcor15b was relevant to cold acclimation. Our study implies that Cbcor15b might have similar functions possessed by other cor genes in increasing plants' freezing tolerance.