LFR, which encodes a novel nuclear-localized Armadillo-repeat protein, affects multiple developmental processes in the aerial organs in Arabidopsis.
The Armadillo (ARM)-repeat domain is a 42-amino acid protein-protein interaction motif present in many eukaryotic proteins. ARM-repeat proteins function in many cellular processes, including cytoskeletal regulation, nucleo-cytoplasmic trafficking, and transcriptional regulation. More than 100 genes encoding ARM-repeat proteins are predicted to exist in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome; however, most of them have unknown biological functions. Using map-based cloning, we isolated a novel recessive loss-of-function mutant, lfr-1, with developmental and morphological defects at the vegetative stage in the cotyledons and true leaves, and during the reproductive phase in the flowers and siliques. Complementation experiments and an analysis of the T-DNA insertion mutant lfr-2 revealed that LFR was responsible for all of the mutant phenotypes. LFR encodes a protein with three putative ARM-repeat domains that tends to cluster in the nucleus as discrete rounded speckles. LFR was broadly expressed while LFR was largely concentrated in the stem apex and root tip. Our data suggest that LFR is a novel nuclear-localized ARM-repeat protein that functions in leaf and flower development in Arabidopsis.
Institute of Molecular Cell Biology, Hebei Normal University, No. 113 Yuhua Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province 050016, Peoples Republic of China.
Zhijuan
Z
Wang
Tingting
T
Yuan
Can
C
Yuan
Yuqiang
Y
Niu
Daye
D
Sun
Sujuan
S
Cui
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D018745:Genome, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013347:Subcellular Fractions / Q000378:metabolism
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers