EARLY RESPONSIVE to DEHYDRATION 15, a new transcription factor that integrates stress signaling pathways

The Early Responsive to Dehydration (ERD) genes are defined as genes that are rapidly activated during drought stress. The encoded proteins show a great structural and functional diversity, with a particular class of proteins acting as connectors of stress response pathways. Recent studies have shown that ERD15 proteins from different species of plants operate in cross-talk among different response pathways. In this review, we show the recent progress on the functional role of this diverse family of proteins and demonstrate that a soybean ERD15 homolog can act as a connector in stress response pathways that trigger a programmed cell death signal.