M. REVALSKA1, V. VASSILEVA2, G. ZEHIROV2 and A. IANTCHEVA1
1 AgroBioInstitute, BG-1164 Sofia, Bulgaria
2 Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics, BG-1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Revalska, M., V. Vassileva, G. Zehirov and A. Iantcheva, 2016. Analysing the function and the expression pattern of Auxin responsе factor B3 from Medicago truncatula in the model plant Lotus japonicus. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 22: 253–261
In plants, Auxin Response Factors (ARFs) regulate gene expression in response to auxin and may act as a transcriptional activators or repressors. ARF proteins bind to auxin response elements (AuxREs) in auxin-responsive gene promoters. Auxin Response Factor B3 from Medicago truncatula (МtARF-B3) was heterologously expressed in the model legume Lotus japonicus. Stable transgenic plants, overexpressing MtARF-B3 and transcriptional reporters were created. In addition, MtARF-B3 ortholog gene of L. japonicus was downregulated and knockdown plants were constructed. Phenotypic and morphological evaluation, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and histochemical GUS assay were used to study the function and expression pattern of MtARF-B3 in the process of somatic embryogenesis and development of tissues and organs. A complex analysis of the obtained results suggests that MtARF-B3 play role in root architecture and in fertility of the model legume L. japonicus.