Mangifera indica (mango) ICE1s confer flowering and tolerance to multiple stresses in Arabidopsis thaliana

The Inducer of CBF Expression 1 (ICE1) family is known to regulate plant responses to low-temperature stress, but its roles in flowering and other abiotic stresses remain unclear. In this study, the tissue-specific expression patterns and functional roles of Mangifera indica (mango) ICE1s ( MiICE1 s) were characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana ( Arabidopsis ). MiICE1a/aL showed high expression across multiple tissues, while MiICE1b/bL were up-regulated in flowering branch stems. MiICE1c and MiICE1d exhibited peak expression in flowers and in flowering branch stems/flowers, respectively, whereas MiICE1e/eL were most abundant in non-flowering branch leaves. Overexpression of most MiICE1 s (except MiICE1b ) in Arabidopsis accelerated flowering compared with the wild type, suggesting their involvement in flowering regulation. MiICE1 s also responded to NaCl, PEG, and methyl jasmonate treatments, with transgenic lines displaying superior root elongation and fresh weight under stress, indicating enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. Protein interaction analyses further revealed that MiICE1s interacted with flowering- and stress-related regulators, potentially coordinating these processes. Overall, this study highlights the dual role of MiICE1 s in promoting flowering and enhancing stress adaptation, providing insights for engineering stress-resilient crops with optimized flowering traits.