Abstract
Transcription factors play key roles in plant development and stress responses through their interaction with cis-elements and/or other transcription factors. Homeodomain associated leucine zipper proteins (HD-Zip) constitute a family of transcription factors that are characterized by the presence of a DNA-binding domain closely linked with leucine zipper motif functioning in dimer formation. This type of association is unique to plants and considered as an excellent candidate to activate developmental responses to altering environmental conditions. Cotton is the most important fiber plant with a lot of local and commercial uses in the world. HD-Zip proteins not only have key roles in different stages of vascular and inter-fascicular fiber differentiation of cotton but also are suggested to have an important role against abiotic stress that is one of the key factors limiting cotton productivity. Plants have developed various strategies to manage stress conditions through a combination of metabolic, physiological and morphological adaptations. These adaptive changes rely largely on alterations in gene expression. Therefore, transcriptional regulators play a crucial role in stress tolerance. Being a transcription factor HD-Zip might be a useful target for genetic engineering to generate multiple stress tolerance in susceptible plants. In the following chapter, we discussed how the HD-Zip proteins would play a useful role for cotton development both in fiber production and stress adaptation.
Highlights
Plants are exposed to a variety of stress factors that prevent them from attaining their full genetic potential
When plants are subjected to the stress, they respond through various cellular signal transduction pathways, which result in accumulation of certain differentially expressed gene products that can be classified as functional and regulatory proteins
Several genes with various functions are induced by drought and cold stresses, and those various transcription factors are involved in the regulation of these stress-inducible genes through their specific binding to the cis-acting elements of their promoters
Summary
Plants are exposed to a variety of stress factors that prevent them from attaining their full genetic potential. Transcription factors are the sequence-specific DNA binding proteins that control the transfer of genetic information from DNA to mRNA [20] These are the first line of defense against stress stimuli that in turn activate the expression of other stress responsive genes. In transgenic plants transcription factors can confer better stress tolerance than a single gene transfer This opens an excellent opportunity to develop stress tolerant crops in future that can contribute to sustainable food and fiber production in the world [24]. A DRE-binding protein, GhDBP2, was isolated from G. hirsutum seedlings that participate in the activation of down-stream genes in response to environmental stresses and ABA treatment [17] Another DRE binding protein, GhDREB, containing a conserved AP2/EREBP domain reported in G. hirsutum that is induced by drought, high salt and cold stresses in seedlings.
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