PLANT MOLECULAR RESPONSE TO SUBMERGENCE STRESS: LESSONS FROM SUB1A GENE

Abstract

Crop field flooding is the second most damaging phenomenon causing agricultural losses. When plants are submerged, available oxygen is limited causing an energy stress derived from the impediment to use the tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorilation for obtaining energy. This leaves ethanol fermentation as the main catabolic pathway, which has a negative impact on plant development. If the flooding event is long enough, it causes death by depletion of energy reserves. Plants facing submergence stress activate a coordinated molecular response that allows detection of available oxygen, induction of gene expression and conservation of starch reserves through modulation of fermentative pathways. Transcription factors called Ethylene Response Factors (ERFs) control these steps; one of them is the SUB1A gene in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In this work, the most recent advances directed to understand this field of plant molecular biology with current and promising biotechnological applications is reviewed.