Isolation and characterization of an ERF-like gene from Gossypium barbadense

A novel ethylene responsive element binding factors (ERFs) gene, designated as GbERF, was isolated by suppression subtraction hybridization and cDNA library screening from Gossypium barbadense (sea-island cotton). The GbERF cDNA has a total length of 1399 bp with an open reading frame of 954 bp, encoding a predicted polypeptide of 318 amino acids with a molecular weight of 36.1 kDa and a calculated pl of 4.87. The putative polypeptide of GbERF has an ERF domain, which shares high identity with other reported ERF domains, while the whole nucleotide and amino acid sequences have low homology with those of ERF genes from other plant species. RNA blot revealed that GbERF was constitutively expressed in roots and leaves. The transcripts of GbERF accumulated highly and rapidly when G. barbadense plant was treated with exogenous ethylene and Verticillium dahliae infection, accumulated slightly in response to salt, cold, drought stresses and exogenous abscisic acid (ABA) treatment, but declined in response to water stress. These results indicate that the GbERF may play an important role in response to ethylene, ABA, environmental stresses and pathogen attack. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.