Journal article
Arabidopsis thaliana AHL family modulates hypocotyl growth redundantly by interacting with each other via the PPC/DUF296 domain
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.110(48), pp.E4688-E4697
PNAS Plus
11/26/2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/102874
PMCID: PMC3845178
PMID: 24218605
Abstract
Members of the
AT-HOOK MOTIF CONTAINING NUCLEAR LOCALIZED
(
AHL
) family are involved in various plant biological processes. Our findings reveal a molecular model whereby the AHLs interact with each other via the plant and prokaryote conserved (PPC)/domain of unknown function #296 (DUF296) domain to form homo-/hetero-complexes, possibly trimers. The AHL complex also interacts with other nuclear proteins to form a macromolecular complex that modulates plant growth and development. The coordinated action of AHLs requires an AT-hook motif capable of binding AT-rich DNA, as well as a PPC/DUF296 domain containing a conserved six-amino-acid region. Our proposed model provides a better understanding of the roles of
AHL
genes in regulating plant growth and development, which may in turn lead to better seedling establishment and increased yield.
The
Arabidopsis thaliana
genome encodes 29
AT-HOOK MOTIF CONTAINING NUCLEAR LOCALIZED
(
AHL
) genes, which evolved into two phylogenic clades. The AHL proteins contain one or two AT-hook motif(s) and one plant and prokaryote conserved (PPC)/domain of unknown function #296 (DUF296) domain. Seedlings lacking both
SOB3/AHL29
and
ESC/AHL27
confer a subtle long-hypocotyl phenotype compared with the WT or either single-null mutant. In contrast, the missense allele
sob3-6
confers a dramatic long-hypocotyl phenotype in the light. In this study, we examined the dominant-negative feature of
sob3-6
and found that it encodes a protein with a disrupted AT-hook motif that abolishes binding to AT-rich DNA. A loss-of-function approach demonstrated different, yet redundant, contributions of additional
AHL
genes in suppressing hypocotyl elongation in the light. We showed that AHL proteins interact with each other and themselves via the PPC/DUF296 domain. AHLs also share interactions with other nuclear proteins, such as transcription factors, suggesting that these interactions also contribute to the functional redundancy within this gene family. The coordinated action of AHLs requires an AT-hook motif capable of binding AT-rich DNA, as well as a PPC/DUF296 domain containing a conserved Gly-Arg-Phe-Glu-Ile-Leu region. Alteration of this region abolished SOB3/AHL29’s physical interaction with transcription factors and resulted in a dominant-negative allele
in planta
that was phenotypically similar to
sob3-6
. We propose a molecular model where AHLs interact with each other and themselves, as well as other nuclear proteins, to form complexes which modulate plant growth and development.
Metrics
10 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Arabidopsis thaliana AHL family modulates hypocotyl growth redundantly by interacting with each other via the PPC/DUF296 domain
- Creators
- Jianfei Zhao - Molecular Plant Sciences Graduate Program andDavid S Favero - Molecular Plant Sciences Graduate Program andHao Peng - Department of Crop and Soil SciencesMichael M Neff - Molecular Plant Sciences Graduate Program and
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.110(48), pp.E4688-E4697
- Academic Unit
- Crop and Soil Sciences, Department of
- Series
- PNAS Plus
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Identifiers
- 99900546672601842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article