Overexpression of TaMYB4 Confers Freezing Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana .

Freezing stress is one of the main factors limiting the growth and yield of wheat. In this study, we found that expression was significantly upregulated in the tillering nodes of the strong cold-resistant winter wheat variety Dongnongdongmai1 (Dn1) under freezing stress. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis, qRT-PCR and protein-DNA interaction experiments demonstrated that monodehydroascorbate reductase () is a direct target of TaMYB4. The results showed that overexpression of enhanced the freezing tolerance of transgenic . In overexpression lines (OE-), expression was upregulated and ascorbate-glutathione (AsA-GSH) cycle operation was enhanced. In addition, the expression of cold stress marker genes such as , , , , , and in OE- lines was significantly upregulated. Therefore, TaMYB4 may increase freezing tolerance as a transcription factor (TF) in through the AsA-GSH cycle and DREB/CBF signaling pathway. This study provides a potential gene for molecular breeding against freezing stress.