title: The RING finger protein NtRCP1 is involved in the floral transition in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).
abstract: The transition from the vegetative phase to the reproductive phase is a major developmental process in flowering plants. The underlying mechanism controlling this cellular process remains a research focus in the field of plant molecular biology. In the present work, we identified a gene encoding the C3H2C3-type RING finger protein NtRCP1 from tobacco BY-2 cells. Enzymatic analysis demonstrated that NtRCP1 is a functional E3 ubiquitin ligase. In tobacco plants, expression level of NtRCP1 was higher in the reproductive shoot apices than in the vegetative ones. NtRCP1-overexpressing plants underwent a more rapid transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase and flowered markedly earlier than the wild-type control. Histological analysis revealed that the shoot apical meristem of NtRCP1-overexpressing plants initiated inflorescence primordia precociously compared to the wild-type plant due to accelerated cell division. Overexpression of NtRCP1 in BY-2 suspension cells promoted cell division, which was a consequence of the shortened G2 phase in the cell cycle. Together, our data suggest that NtRCP1 may act as a regulator of the phase transition, possibly through its role in cell cycle regulation, during vegetative/reproductive development in tobacco plant.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Duo
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Li-Bo
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Jia-He
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China. Electronic address: xiagx@im.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Gui-Xian
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China. Electronic address: liu@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Guo-Qin
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Cell division cycle; Floral transition; RING finger protein; Tobacco