title: The 14-3-3 protein GF14c acts as a negative regulator of flowering in rice by interacting with the florigen Hd3a.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, 8916-5 Takayama, Ikoma, Nara 630-0101, Japan.
authors.forename: Yekti Asih
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Purwestri
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogaki
authors.forename: Shojiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Ko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimamoto
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D048948:14-3-3 Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; C036483:T-DNA