Mangifera indica (mango) ICE1s confer flowering and tolerance to multiple stresses in Arabidopsis thaliana
摘要
The Inducer of CBF Expression 1 (ICE1) family is known to regulate plant responses to low-temperature stress, but its roles in flowering and other abiotic stresses remain unclear. In this study, the tissue-specific expression patterns and functional roles of Mangifera indica (mango) ICE1s (MiICE1s) were characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). MiICE1a/aL showed high expression across multiple tissues, while MiICE1b/bL were up-regulated in flowering branch stems. MiICE1c and MiICE1d exhibited peak expression in flowers and in flowering branch stems/flowers, respectively, whereas MiICE1e/eL were most abundant in non-flowering branch leaves. Compared with the wild type, the overexpression of most MiICE1s (except MiICE1b) in Arabidopsis increased the content of gibberellin (GA4) at 8℃ and accelerated the flowering process. Further studies revealed that MiICE1s promote the expression of flowering-related genes at 8 ℃ by interacting with flowering-related proteins (MiFLC, MiFTs). MiICE1s also responded to NaCl, PEG, and methyl jasmonate treatments, with transgenic lines displaying superior root elongation and fresh weight under stress, indicating enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. Further studies revealed that through interaction with MiFTs, MiICE1s promote the expression of stress-related genes under salt and drought conditions. Overall, this study highlights the dual role of MiICE1s in promoting flowering and enhancing stress adaptation, providing insights for engineering stress-resilient crops with optimized flowering traits.