Regulation of TOP2 by various abiotic stresses including cold and salinity in pea and transgenic tobacco plants.

Although abiotic stress affects plant growth and development, demonstration of its direct effect on regulation of the components of the DNA replication machinery is largely unknown. In this work, we demonstrate that the expression of TOP2 (encoding topoisomerase II) is up-regulated by various abiotic stresses including salinity and low temperature, and phytohormones such as ABA (abscisic acid) and SA (salicylic acid). Transgenic studies with different deletion versions of the TOP2 promoter in tobacco define several promoter determinants responsible for specific abiotic stress responsiveness. Taken together, these results demonstrate a direct involvement of stress in the transcriptional regulation of TOP2.