title: NUCLEAR FACTOR Y transcription factors have both opposing and additive roles in ABA-mediated seed germination.
abstract: In the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana the heterotrimeric transcription factor NUCLEAR FACTOR Y (NF-Y) has been shown to play multiple roles in facilitating plant growth and development. Although NF-Y itself represents a multi-protein transcriptional complex, recent studies have shown important interactions with other transcription factors, especially those in the bZIP family. Here we add to the growing evidence that NF-Y and bZIP form common complexes to affect many processes. We carried out transcriptional profiling on nf-yc mutants and through subsequent analyses found an enrichment of bZIP binding sites in the promoter elements of misregulated genes. Using NF-Y as bait, yeast two hybrid assays yielded interactions with bZIP proteins that are known to control ABA signaling. Accordingly, we find that plants mutant for several NF-Y subunits show characteristic phenotypes associated with the disruption of ABA signaling. While previous reports have shown additive roles for NF-YC family members in photoperiodic flowering, we found that they can have opposing roles in ABA signaling. Collectively, these results demonstrated the importance and complexity of NF-Y in the integration of environmental and hormone signals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America.
authors.forename: Roderick W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kumimoto
authors.forename: Chamindika L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Siriwardana
authors.forename: Krystal K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Gayler
authors.forename: Jan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Risinger
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Siefers
authors.forename: Ben F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Holt
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000502:physiology*; D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018525:Germination / Q000502:physiology*; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes / Q000378:metabolism*; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D020798:Two-Hybrid System Techniques
chemical_list: D050976:Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors; D023081:CCAAT-Binding Factor; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; C402244:nuclear factor Y; D000040:Abscisic Acid