Ethylene response factors (ERFs) widely exist in plants and have been reported to be an important regulator of plant abiotic stress. Celery, a common economic vegetable of Apiaceae, contains lots of ERF transcription factors (TFs) with various functions. AP2/ERF TFs play positive or negative roles in plant growth and stress response. Here, AgERF8, a gene encoding EAR-type AP2/ERF TF, was identified. The AgERF8 mRNA accumulated in response to both abscisic acid (ABA) signaling and salt treatment. AgERF8 was proving to be a nucleus-located protein and could bind to GCC-box. The overexpression of AgERF8 in Arabidopsis repressed the transcription of downstream genes, AtBGL and AtBCH. Arabidopsis overexpressing AgERF8 gene showed inhibited root growth under ABA and NaCl treatments. AgERF8 transgenic lines showed low tolerance to ABA and salt stress than wild-type plants. Low increment in SOD and POD activities, increased accumulation of MDA, and significantly decreased plant fresh weights and chlorophyll levels were detected in AgERF8 hosting lines after treated with ABA and NaCl. Furthermore, the overexpression of AgERF8 also inhibited the levels of ascorbic acid and antioxidant-related genes (AtCAT1, AtSOD1, AtPOD, AtSOS1, AtAPX1, and AtP5CS1) expression in transgenic Arabidopsis. This finding indicated that AgERF8 negatively affected the resistance of transgenic Arabidopsis to ABA and salt stress through regulating downstream genes expression and relevant physiological changes. It will provide a potential sight to further understand the functions of ERF TFs in celery.

乙烯反应因子（ERF）广泛存在于植物中，据报道是植物非生物胁迫的重要调节剂。芹菜是一种常见的菊科经济植物，含有许多具有各种功能的ERF转录因子（TFs）。AP2 / ERF TF在植物生长和胁迫响应中发挥积极或消极作用。在此，鉴定了编码ER-型AP2 / ERF TF的基因AgERF8。所述AgERF8 mRNA的积累响应于两个脱落酸（ABA）的信令和盐处理。AgERF8被证明是一种位于细胞核中的蛋白质，可以与GCC-box结合。AgERF8在拟南芥中的过表达抑制了下游基因AtBGL和AtBCH的转录。拟南芥在ABA和NaCl处理下，过表达AgERF8基因的根生长受到抑制。与野生型植物相比，AgERF8转基因品系对ABA和盐胁迫的耐受性较低。用ABA和NaCl处理后，在AgERF8寄主株系中检测到SOD和POD活性的增幅低，MDA积累增加以及植物鲜重和叶绿素水平显着降低。此外，AgERF8的过表达还抑制了抗坏血酸和抗氧化剂相关基因（AtCAT1，AtSOD1，AtPOD，AtSOS1，AtAPX1和AtP5CS1）的表达水平拟南芥。该发现表明，AgERF8通过调节下游基因表达和相关的生理变化而负面影响转基因拟南芥对ABA和盐胁迫的抗性。这将为进一步了解ERF TF在芹菜中的功能提供潜在的视野。