The 14-3-3 protein GF14c acts as a negative regulator of flowering in rice by interacting with the florigen Hd3a.
Hd3a and FT proteins have recently been proposed to act as florigens in rice and Arabidopsis, respectively; however, the molecular mechanisms of their function remain to be determined. In this study, we identified GF14c (a 14-3-3 protein) as an Hd3a-interacting protein in a yeast two-hybrid screen. In vitro and in vivo experiments, using a combination of pull-down assays and bimolecular fluorescence complementation, confirmed the interaction between Hd3a and GF14c. Functional analysis using either GF14c overexpression or knockout transgenic rice plants indicated that this interaction plays a role in the regulation of flowering. GF14c-overexpressing plants exhibited a delay in flowering and the knockout mutants displayed early flowering relative to the wild-type plants under short-day conditions. These results suggest that GF14c acts as a negative regulator of flowering by interacting with Hd3a. Since the 14-3-3 protein has been shown to interact with FT protein in tomato and Arabidopsis, our results in rice provide important findings about FT signaling in plants.
Purwestri
Yekti Asih
YA
Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama, Ikoma, Nara 630-0101, Japan.
Ogaki
Yuka
Y
Tamaki
Shojiro
S
Tsuji
Hiroyuki
H
Shimamoto
Ko
K
D048948:14-3-3 Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D055786:Gene Knockout Techniques; D015723:Gene Library; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
D048948:14-3-3 Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; C036483:T-DNA