Zfp182, a TFIIIA-type zinc finger protein, is involved in multiple abiotic stress responses in plants. It has key roles in pathways related to abscisic acid (ABA)-induced antioxidant defense, salt, cold and drought tolerances, which are of great biological importance for plant survival and adaptation [1,2,3]. Genetic models such as transgenic rice and tobacco are valuable for studying its functions.

In rice, ABA treatment induced the expression of Zfp182, along with OsMPK1 and OsMPK5, and increased activities of antioxidant enzymes. Transient gene expression and RNAi analyses in protoplasts showed Zfp182, OsMPK1 and OsMPK5 are involved in ABA-induced antioxidant defense, and OsMPK1 and OsMPK5 are required for Zfp182 up-regulation in ABA signaling [1]. Overexpression of Zfp182 in rice enhanced salt, cold and drought tolerances, promoted accumulation of compatible osmolytes, and activated stress-related genes like OsP5CS, OsLEA3, OsDREB1A and OsDREB1B [2]. Expression of Zfp182 in transgenic tobacco and overexpression in rice increased salt tolerance [3]. In wheat, mutations in genes related to Zfp182 were identified in an EMS mutant library, and in rice, superior haplotypes of Zfp182 were associated with higher single plant yield under drought stress [4,5].

In summary, Zfp182 is essential for plants' abiotic stress responses, especially in ABA-induced antioxidant defense, salt, cold and drought tolerances. Studies using transgenic plants as research models have revealed its role in regulating stress-related genes and physiological processes, providing insights into improving crop stress tolerance [1,2,3,4,5].

References:

1. Zhang, Hong, Ni, Lan, Liu, Yanpei, Tan, Mingpu, Jiang, Mingyi. . The C2H2-type zinc finger protein ZFP182 is involved in abscisic acid-induced antioxidant defense in rice. In Journal of integrative plant biology, 54, 500-10. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7909.2012.01135.x. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22693960/

2. Huang, Ji, Sun, Shujing, Xu, Dongqing, Tang, Haijuan, Zhang, Hongsheng. 2012. A TFIIIA-type zinc finger protein confers multiple abiotic stress tolerances in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.). In Plant molecular biology, 80, 337-50. doi:10.1007/s11103-012-9955-5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22930448/

3. Huang, Ji, Yang, Xia, Wang, Mei-Mei, Shen, Yin, Zhang, Hong-Sheng. 2007. A novel rice C2H2-type zinc finger protein lacking DLN-box/EAR-motif plays a role in salt tolerance. In Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1769, 220-7. doi:. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17434609/

4. Wang, Dongzhi, Li, Yongpeng, Wang, Haojie, Liu, Xigang, Xiao, Jun. 2023. Boosting wheat functional genomics via an indexed EMS mutant library of KN9204. In Plant communications, 4, 100593. doi:10.1016/j.xplc.2023.100593. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36945776/

5. Singh, Preeti, Sundaram, Krishna T, Vinukonda, Vishnu Prasanth, Singh, Vikas K, Sinha, Pallavi. 2024. Superior haplotypes of key drought-responsive genes reveal opportunities for the development of climate-resilient rice varieties. In Communications biology, 7, 89. doi:10.1038/s42003-024-05769-7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38216712/