Members of the plant NIMA-related kinases are involved in organ development and vascularization in poplar, Arabidopsis and rice.
NIMA-related kinases (Neks) are a family of serine/threonine kinases that have been linked to cell-cycle regulation in fungi and mammals. Information regarding the function of Neks in plants is very limited. We screened the three plant species that have had their genomes sequenced in an attempt to improve our understanding of their role in plants. We retrieved seven members in Arabidopsis thaliana, nine in Populus trichocarpa and six in Oryza sativa. Phylogenetic analysis showed that plant Neks are closely related to each other and contain paralogous genes. Moreover, their chromosome distribution and their exon-intron structure revealed that the actual plant Nek family was derived from a single representative followed by large segmental duplication events. Functional expression analyses in the three species relied on RTqPCR in poplar and publicly available microarray data for Arabidopsis and rice. Although plant Neks are present in every organ analyzed, their expression profiles suggest their involvement in plant development processes. Furthermore, we showed that PNek1, a member of the poplar family, is expressed at sites of free auxin synthesis and is specifically involved during the vascularization process.
Vigneault
Frédéric
F
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du P.E.P.S., PO Box 10380, Stn. Sainte-Foy, Quebec, QC, Canada G1 V 4C7.
Lachance
Denis
D
Cloutier
Monikca
M
Pelletier
Gervais
G
Levasseur
Caroline
C
Séguin
Armand
A
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005091:Exons; D020440:Gene Duplication; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018745:Genome, Plant; D007438:Introns; D005810:Multigene Family; D012275:Oryza / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D032107:Populus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D010940:Plant Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases