The - module participates in cold acclimatization of (Sieb. et Zucc.) Planch ex Miq.

Unlabelled: (, kiwiberry) is a perennial deciduous vine with a strong overwintering ability. We hypothesized that trehalose metabolism, which plays a pivotal role in the stress tolerance of plants, may be involved in the cold acclimatization of . Transcriptome analysis showed that the expression of , which encodes a trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP), was upregulated in response to low temperatures. expression levels were much higher in lateral buds, roots, and stem cambia than in leaves in autumn. In -overexpressing (OE) (), trehalose levels were 8-11 times higher than that of the wild type (WT) and showed different phenotypic characteristics from WT and () overexpressing lines. -OE exhibited significantly higher freezing tolerance than WT and -OE lines. Transient overexpression of in leaves increased the scavenging ability of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the soluble sugar and proline contents. , an ethylene-responsive transcription factor, was induced by ethylene treatment and bound to the GCC-box of the promoter to activate its expression. expression was also induced by abscisic acid. In summary, the temperature decrease in autumn is likely to induce expression through an ethylene-dependent pathway, which consequently upregulates expression, leading to the accumulation of osmotic protectants such as soluble sugars and proline in the overwintering tissues of .

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-024-01475-8.