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Jianhua Zhu of Purdue University, USA found out that ?HOS10 encodes an
R2R3-type MYB transcription factor essential for cold acclimation in
plants.? The research reports the identification and characterization of an
Arabidopsis mutant extremely sensitive to freezing temperatures and sodium
chloride levels due to the mutation of a gene, and is published in the
latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online,
July 2005.

Plant metabolism is highly complex, and still not completely understood.
For instance, evidence indicates that metabolic pathways can cross each
other and affect one another when pathways controlling drought, salinity,
and cold tolerance are concerned. Through RNA gel analysis, cloning of the
HOS10 gene, mutation of the gene, and identification of the HOS10 locus,
among other things, researchers produced plants which were reduced in size,
flowered early, and yet had reduced fertility. These HOS10 mutants,
moreover, could not survive in cold and high salt conditions, and could not
synthesize an important hormone.

This mutation, researchers said, could prove useful in further studies
involving connections between cold or salt tolerance, and plant metabolism.
Download the complete article at
[www.pnas.org].

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