CBF1 and CBF4 in Solanum tuberosum L. differ in their effect on low-temperature tolerance and development

•Solanum tuberosum CBF1(StCBF1) and Solanum tuberosum CBF4 (StCBF4) were transformed to Arabidopsis and the transgenic plants showed a different phenotype from wide type (WT).•Under low-temperature stress, both transgenic lines enhance cold resistance compared with wild type plants.•The StCBF4 transgenic lines are much more tolerant to cold stress than StCBF1 transgenic lines.•StCBFs overexpression coincided with an increase in the expression of the cold-regulated genes AtCOR15a, AtCOR47, AtKIN1 and AtRD29A.