title: CUL4 associates with DDB1 and DET1 and its downregulation affects diverse aspects of development in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Cullins are central scaffolding subunits in eukaryotic E3 ligases that facilitate the ubiquitination of target proteins. Arabidopsis contains at least 11 cullin proteins but only a few of them have been assigned biological roles. In this work Arabidopsis cullin 4 is shown to assemble with DDB1, RBX1, DET1 and DDB2 in vitro and in planta. In addition, by using T-DNA insertion and CUL4 antisense lines we demonstrate that corresponding mutants are severely affected in different aspects of development. Reduced CUL4 expression leads to a reduced number of lateral roots, and to abnormal vascular tissue and stomatal development. Furthermore, cul4 mutants display a weak constitutive photomorphogenic phenotype. These results therefore assign an important function to CUL4 during plant development and provide strong evidence that CUL4 assembles together with RBX1 and DDB1 proteins to form a functional E3 ligase in Arabidopsis.
authors.affiliation: Angewandte Genetik, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bernhardt
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lechner
authors.forename: Perdita
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hano
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Schade
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dieterle
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anders
authors.forename: Manu Jody
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Dubin
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benvenuto
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bowler
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Genschik
authors.forename: Hanjo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hellmann
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D044842:Cullin Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D015536:Down-Regulation; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008027:Light; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C514806:CULLIN4 protein, Arabidopsis; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D044842:Cullin Proteins; C517426:DDB1a protein, Arabidopsis; C517427:DDB1b protein, Arabidopsis; C088435:DET1 protein, Arabidopsis; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C507151:RBX1 protein, Arabidopsis