title: Cooperative action of the paralogous maize lateral organ boundaries (LOB) domain proteins RTCS and RTCL in shoot-borne root formation.
abstract: The paralogous maize (Zea mays) LBD (Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain) genes rtcs (rootless concerning crown and seminal roots) and rtcl (rtcs-like) emerged from an ancient whole-genome duplication. RTCS is a key regulator of crown root initiation. The diversity of expression, molecular interaction and phenotype of rtcs and rtcl were investigated. The rtcs and rtcl genes display highly correlated spatio-temporal expression patterns in roots, despite the significantly higher expression of rtcs. Both RTCS and RTCL proteins bind to LBD downstream promoters and act as transcription factors. In line with its auxin inducibility and binding to auxin response elements of rtcs and rtcl promoters, ARF34 (AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 34) acts as transcriptional activator. Yeast two-hybrid screening combined with bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) experiments revealed conserved and unique interaction partners of RTCS and RTCL. The rtcl mutation leads to defective shoot-borne root elongation early in development. Cooperative action of RTCS and RTCL during shoot-borne root formation was demonstrated by rtcs-dependent repression of rtcl transcription in coleoptilar nodes. Although RTCS is instrumental in shoot-borne root initiation, RTCL controls shoot-borne root elongation early in development. Their conserved role in auxin signaling, but diverse function in shoot-borne root formation, is underscored by their conserved and unique interaction partners.
authors.affiliation: INRES, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Crop Functional Genomics, University of Bonn, 53113, Bonn, Germany.|RCBB, Research Center of Bioenergy and Bioremediation, College of Resources and Environment, Southwest University, 400716, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Changzheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: INRES, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Crop Functional Genomics, University of Bonn, 53113, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Huanhuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tai
authors.affiliation: INRES, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Crop Functional Genomics, University of Bonn, 53113, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saleem
authors.affiliation: INRES, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Crop Functional Genomics, University of Bonn, 53113, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.affiliation: ZMBP, Center for Plant Molecular Biology, General Genetics, University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Majer
authors.affiliation: ZMBP, Center for Plant Molecular Biology, Central Facilities, University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Kenneth W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Berendzen
authors.affiliation: IBG-2, Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Kerstin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Nagel
authors.affiliation: IBG-2, Plant Sciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wojciechowski
authors.affiliation: DuPont Pioneer Ag Biotech Research, Johnston, IA, 50131-1004, USA.
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Meeley
authors.affiliation: DuPont Crop Genetics Research, Experimental Station, Wilmington, DE, 19880-0353, USA.
authors.forename: Graziana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Taramino
authors.affiliation: INRES, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, Crop Functional Genomics, University of Bonn, 53113, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hochholdinger
mesh_terms: D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D008954:Models, Biological; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: lateral organ boundaries (LOB) domain; maize (Zea mays); root development; rootless concerning crown and seminal roots (RTCS); rtcs-like (RTCL); shoot-borne roots