The ekeko mutant demonstrates a role for tetraspanin-like protein in plant development.
A new mutant with disturbed cell differentiation and severely altered plant morphology was obtained by visual screening of a T-DNA mutagenized population of Arabidopsis thaliana. The T-DNA in this mutant was inserted in an unknown gene (ORF At5g46700) located on chromosome V. This gene and additional 12 genes in the Arabidopsis genome show structural homologies to a class of abundantly expressed mammalian proteins with four transmembrane domains (TM4) called tetraspanins. In animals tetraspanins are involved in different cell functions like cell development, adhesion, motility, and differentiation, probably by organizing other proteins into a network of multimolecular membrane microdomains, called the tetraspanin web. So far no function for tetraspanins in plants has been described. Here, we show that a mutation in the TM4-like gene EKEKO results in severe developmental defects that could be the result of incorrect regulation of cell differentiation.
Olmos
Ernesto
E
Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, D-50829 Koeln, Germany.
Reiss
Bernd
B
Dekker
Koen
K
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C036483:T-DNA