title: Transcript elongation factor TFIIS is involved in arabidopsis seed dormancy.
abstract: Transcript elongation factor TFIIS promotes efficient transcription by RNA polymerase II, since it assists in bypassing blocks during mRNA synthesis. While yeast cells lacking TFIIS are viable, inactivation of mouse TFIIS causes embryonic lethality. Here, we have identified a protein encoded in the Arabidopsis genome that displays a marked sequence similarity to TFIIS of other organisms, primarily within domains II and III in the C-terminal part of the protein. TFIIS is widely expressed in Arabidopsis, and a green fluorescent protein-TFIIS fusion protein localises specifically to the cell nucleus. When expressed in yeast cells lacking the endogenous TFIIS, Arabidopsis TFIIS partially complements the sensitivity of mutant cells to the nucleotide analog 6-azauridine, which is a typical characteristic of transcript elongation factors. We have characterised Arabidopsis lines harbouring T-DNA insertions in the coding sequence of TFIIS. Plants homozygous for T-DNA insertions are viable, and genomewide transcript profiling revealed that compared to control plants, a relatively small number of genes are differentially expressed in mutant plants. TFIIS(-/-) plants display essentially normal development, but they flower slightly earlier than control plants and show clearly reduced seed dormancy. Plants with RNAi-mediated knockdown of TFIIS expression also are affected in seed dormancy. Therefore, TFIIS plays a critical role in Arabidopsis seed development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Aalborg University, Sohngaardsholmsvej 49, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marion
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grasser
authors.forename: Caroline M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kane
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Merkle
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melzer
authors.forename: Jeppe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Emmersen
authors.forename: Klaus D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Grasser
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D002470:Cell Survival; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D017353:Gene Deletion; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D006720:Homozygote; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D012639:Seeds / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D035602:Transcriptional Elongation Factors / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C036483:T-DNA; D035602:Transcriptional Elongation Factors; C018648:transcription factor S-II; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins