title: The RING finger motif of photomorphogenic repressor COP1 specifically interacts with the RING-H2 motif of a novel Arabidopsis protein.
abstract: The constitutive photomorphogenic 1 (COP1) protein of Arabidopsis functions as a molecular switch for the seedling developmental fates: photomorphogenesis under light conditions and skotomorphogenesis in darkness. The COP1 protein contains a cysteine-rich zinc-binding RING finger motif found in diverse groups of regulatory proteins. To understand the role of the COP1 RING finger in mediating protein-protein interaction, we have performed a yeast two-hybrid screen and isolated a novel protein with a RING-H2 motif, a variant type of the RING finger. This protein, designated COP1 Interacting Protein 8 (CIP8), is encoded by a single copy gene and localized to cytosol in a transient assay. In addition to the RING-H2 motif, the predicted protein has a C4 zinc finger, an acidic region, a glycine-rich cluster, and a serine-rich cluster. The COP1 RING finger and the CIP8 RING-H2 domains are sufficient for their interaction with each other both in vitro and in yeast, whereas neither motif displayed significant self-association. Moreover, site-directed mutagenesis studies demonstrated that the expected zinc-binding ligands of the RING finger and RING-H2 fingers are essential for their interaction. Our findings indicate that the RING finger motif, in this case, serves as autonomous protein-protein interaction domain. The allele specific effect of cop1 mutations on the CIP8 protein accumulation in seedlings indicates that its stability in vivo is dependent on the COP1 protein.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8104, USA.
authors.forename: K U
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Torii
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Stoop-Myer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsui
authors.forename: X W
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Deng
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D017931:DNA Primers; D008027:Light; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C121940:CIP8 protein, Arabidopsis; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C471983:AT2G32950 protein, Arabidopsis; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases