title: Molecular analysis of the CRINKLY4 gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: The maize (Zea mays L.) CRINKLY4 (CR4) gene encodes a serine/threonine receptor-like kinase that controls an array of developmental processes in the plant and endosperm. The Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. genome encodes an ortholog of CR4, ACR4, and four CRINKLY4-RELATED (CRR) proteins: AtCRR1, AtCRR2, AtCRR3 and AtCRK1. The available genome sequence of rice (Oryza sativa L.) encodes a CR4 ortholog, OsCR4, and four CRR proteins: OsCRR1, OsCRR2, OsCRR3 and OsCRR4, not necessarily orthologous to the Arabidopsis CRRs. A phylogenetic study showed that AtCRR1 and AtCRR2 form a clade closest to the CR4 group while all the other CRRs form a separate cluster. The five Arabidopsis genes are differentially expressed in various tissues. A construct formed by fusion of the ACR4 promoter and the GUS reporter, ACR4::GUS, is expressed primarily in developing tissues of the shoot. The ACR4 cytoplasmic domain functions in vitro as a serine/threonine kinase, while the AtCRR1 and AtCRR2 kinases are not active. The ability of ACR4 to phosphorylate AtCRR2 suggests that they might function in the same signal transduction pathway. T-DNA insertions were obtained in ACR4, AtCRR1, AtCRR2, AtCRR3 and AtCRK1. Mutations in acr4 show a phenotype restricted to the integuments and seed coat, suggesting that Arabidopsis might contain a redundant function that is lacking in maize. The lack of obvious mutant phenotypes in the crr mutants indicates they are not required for the hypothetical redundant function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
authors.forename: Xueyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Kejian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Sang-Gon
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Philip W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Becraft
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D035264:Flowers; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics; D036226:Seedlings; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C036483:T-DNA; D011494:Protein Kinases