title: Nucleolus-tethering system (NoTS) reveals that assembly of photobodies follows a self-organization model.
abstract: Protein-protein interactions play essential roles in regulating many biological processes. At the cellular level, many proteins form nuclear foci known as nuclear bodies in which many components interact with each other. Photobodies are nuclear bodies containing proteins for light-signaling pathways in plants. What initiates the formation of photobodies is poorly understood. Here we develop a nucleolar marker protein nucleolin2 (Nuc2)-based method called the nucleolus-tethering system (NoTS) by artificially tethering a protein of interest to the nucleolus to analyze the initiation of photobodies. A candidate initiator is evaluated by visualizing whether a protein fused with Nuc2 forms body-like structures at the periphery of the nucleolus, and other components are recruited to the de novo-formed bodies. The interaction between two proteins can also be revealed through relocation and recruitment of interacting proteins to the nucleolus. Using the NoTS, we test the interactions among components in photobodies. In addition, we demonstrate that components of photobodies such as CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1, photoreceptors, and transcription factors tethered to the nucleolus have the capacity to form body-like structures at the periphery of the nucleolus, which contain other components of photobodies, suggesting a self-organization model for the biogenesis of photobodies.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Qingqing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Leilei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000235:genetics*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055519:Photoreceptors, Plant / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000097796:Nucleolin
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D055519:Photoreceptors, Plant; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D000097796:Nucleolin; C054562:yellow fluorescent protein, Bacteria; C471983:AT2G32950 protein, Arabidopsis