Gene Expression and Yeast Two-Hybrid Studies of 1R-MYB Transcription Factor Mediating Drought Stress Response in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

The chloroplast is a semi-autonomous organelle with its own genome. The expression of chloroplast genes depends on both chloroplasts and the nucleus. Although many nucleus-encoded proteins have been shown to localize in chloroplasts and are essential for chloroplast gene expression, it is not clear whether transcription factors can regulate gene expression in chloroplasts. Here we report that the transcription factor NAC102 localizes in both chloroplasts and nucleus in Arabidopsis. Specifically, NAC102 localizes in chloroplast nucleoids. Yeast two-hybrid assay and co-immunoprecipitation assay suggested that NAC102 interacts with chloroplast RNA polymerases. Furthermore, overexpression of NAC102 in chloroplasts leads to reduced chloroplast gene expression and chlorophyll content, indicating that NAC102 functions as a repressor in chloroplasts. Our study not only revealed that transcription factors are new regulators of chloroplast gene expression, but also discovered that transcription factors can function in chloroplasts in addition to the canonical organelle nucleus.

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NAC Transcription Factor PwNAC11 Activates ERD1 by Interaction with ABF3 and DREB2A to Enhance Drought Tolerance in Transgenic Arabidopsis

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22136952 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (13) ◽

pp. 6952

Author(s):

Mingxin Yu ◽

Junling Liu ◽

Bingshuai Du ◽

Mengjuan Zhang ◽

Aibin Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Drought Stress ◽

Stress Response ◽

Transcriptional Activation ◽

Dominant Role ◽

State Level ◽

Energy Conversion Efficiency ◽

Nac Transcription Factor ◽

Wild Plants ◽

Transgenic Lines

NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2) transcription factors are ubiquitously distributed in eukaryotes and play significant roles in stress response. However, the functional verifications of NACs in Picea (P.) wilsonii remain largely uncharacterized. Here, we identified the NAC transcription factor PwNAC11 as a mediator of drought stress, which was significantly upregulated in P. wilsonii under drought and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. Yeast two-hybrid assays showed that both the full length and C-terminal of PwNAC11 had transcriptional activation activity and PwNAC11 protein cannot form a homodimer by itself. Subcellular observation demonstrated that PwNAC11 protein was located in nucleus. The overexpression of PwNAC11 in Arabidopsis obviously improved the tolerance to drought stress but delayed flowering time under nonstress conditions. The steady-state level of antioxidant enzymes’ activities and light energy conversion efficiency were significantly increased in PwNAC11 transgenic lines under dehydration compared to wild plants. PwNAC11 transgenic lines showed hypersensitivity to ABA and PwNAC11 activated the expression of the downstream gene ERD1 by binding to ABA-responsive elements (ABREs) instead of drought-responsive elements (DREs). Genetic evidence demonstrated that PwNAC11 physically interacted with an ABA-induced protein—ABRE Binding Factor3 (ABF3)—and promoted the activation of ERD1 promoter, which implied an ABA-dependent signaling cascade controlled by PwNAC11. In addition, qRT-PCR and yeast assays showed that an ABA-independent gene—DREB2A—was also probably involved in PwNAC11-mediated drought stress response. Taken together, our results provide the evidence that PwNAC11 plays a dominant role in plants positively responding to early drought stress and ABF3 and DREB2A synergistically regulate the expression of ERD1.

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The Catenin p120ctnInteracts with Kaiso, a Novel BTB/POZ Domain Zinc Finger Transcription Factor

Molecular and Cellular Biology ◽

10.1128/mcb.19.5.3614 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 3614-3623 ◽

Cited By ~ 263

Author(s):

Juliet M. Daniel ◽

Albert B. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factor ◽

Monoclonal Antibodies ◽

Cell Adhesion ◽

Mammalian Cells ◽

Yeast Two Hybrid ◽

Amino Terminal ◽

Juxtamembrane Region ◽

Carboxy Terminal ◽

Two Hybrid ◽

E Cadherin

ABSTRACT p120 ctn is an Armadillo repeat domain protein with structural similarity to the cell adhesion cofactors β-catenin and plakoglobin. All three proteins interact directly with the cytoplasmic domain of the transmembrane cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin; β-catenin and plakoglobin bind a carboxy-terminal region in a mutually exclusive manner, while p120 binds the juxtamembrane region. Unlike β-catenin and plakoglobin, p120 does not interact with α-catenin, the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), or the transcription factor Lef-1, suggesting that it has unique binding partners and plays a distinct role in the cadherin-catenin complex. Using p120 as bait, we conducted a yeast two-hybrid screen and identified a novel transcription factor which we named Kaiso. Kaiso’s deduced amino acid sequence revealed an amino-terminal BTB/POZ protein-protein interaction domain and three carboxy-terminal zinc fingers of the C2H2 DNA-binding type. Kaiso thus belongs to a rapidly growing family of POZ-ZF transcription factors that include the Drosophila developmental regulators Tramtrak and Bric à brac, and the human oncoproteins BCL-6 and PLZF, which are causally linked to non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma and acute promyelocytic leukemia, respectively. Monoclonal antibodies to Kaiso were generated and used to immunolocalize the protein and confirm the specificity of the p120-Kaiso interaction in mammalian cells. Kaiso specifically coprecipitated with a variety of p120-specific monoclonal antibodies but not with antibodies to α- or β-catenin, E-cadherin, or APC. Like other POZ-ZF proteins, Kaiso localized to the nucleus and was associated with specific nuclear dots. Yeast two-hybrid interaction assays mapped the binding domains to Arm repeats 1 to 7 of p120 and the carboxy-terminal 200 amino acids of Kaiso. In addition, Kaiso homodimerized via its POZ domain but it did not heterodimerize with BCL-6, which heterodimerizes with PLZF. The involvement of POZ-ZF proteins in development and cancer makes Kaiso an interesting candidate for a downstream effector of cadherin and/or p120 signaling.

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