Involved in the regulation of gene expression during fruit ripening, by stress factors and by components of stress signal transduction pathways. Transcription factor that binds to the GCC-box pathogenesis-related promoter element. Probably acts as a transcriptional activator and may be involved in disease resistance pathways (By similarity). Present in stems. Strong induction by ethylene and by wounding. The AP2/ERF domain binds specifically to the 5'-GCCGCC-3' motif. The affinity of this binding is higher if the seventh amino-acid of this domain is basic (By similarity). Belongs to the ethylene-response factor family. Class 1 subfamily.