On February 24, 2020, Plant, Cell & Environmentpublished online a research article entitled “ABA-responsive ABRE-BINDING FACTOR3 activates DAM3 expression to promote bud dormancy in Asian pear” by the group of Professor Yuanwen Teng. The study confirmed that ABA promotes bud dormancy maintenance and regulates the expression of DAM gene. An ABA-responsive transcription factor PpyABF3 was identified as its expression pattern was similar to that of PpyDAM3 gene. A set of biochemical experiments verified that PpyABF3 activates PpyDAM3 expression. PpyABF2 however, could interact with PpyABF3 and disrupt the binding and activation of PpyABF3 to PpyDAM3 promoter. The results demonstrate that ABA maintains the dormancy status via precisely regulating DAM gene. After long-term exposure to low temperature, PpyCYP707A3 is up-regulated, promoting the decrease of ABA content, leading to the down-regulation of PpyDAM3 and dormancy release. This research clarify the finely tuned regulatory mechanism underlying the effect of ABA on DAM gene expression and provide new insights into ABA-related bud dormancy regulation.
PhD student Qinsong Yang is the first author of this article. Prof. Yuanwen Teng and Prof. Songling Bai are the corresponding author. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Developmental Program of China (2018YFD1000104), the Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-28), and the Specialized Research Fund for Major Science and Technique of Zhejiang Province of China (2018C02011).