title: bZIPs and WRKYs: two large transcription factor families executing two different functional strategies.
abstract: bZIPs and WRKYs are two important plant transcription factor (TF) families regulating diverse developmental and stress-related processes. Since a partial overlap in these biological processes is obvious, it can be speculated that they fulfill non-redundant functions in a complex regulatory network. Here, we focus on the regulatory mechanisms that are so far described for bZIPs and WRKYs. bZIP factors need to heterodimerize for DNA-binding and regulation of transcription, and based on a bioinformatics approach, bZIPs can build up more than the double of protein interactions than WRKYs. In contrast, an enrichment of the WRKY DNA-binding motifs can be found in WRKY promoters, a phenomenon which is not observed for the bZIP family. Thus, the two TF families follow two different functional strategies in which WRKYs regulate each other's transcription in a transcriptional network whereas bZIP action relies on intensive heterodimerization.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Genetics, Center of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Carles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Llorca
authors.affiliation: Department of General Genetics, Center of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Maren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Potschin
authors.affiliation: Department of General Genetics, Center of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zentgraf
keywords: DNA-binding; G/C box accumulation; W-box accumulation; WRKYs; bZIPs; heterodimerization; regulatory mechanisms