title: DELLA proteins interact with FLC to repress flowering transition.
abstract: Flowering is a highly orchestrated and extremely critical process in a plant's life cycle. Previous study has demonstrated that SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) integrate the gibberellic acid (GA) signaling pathway and vernalization pathway in regulating flowering time, but detailed molecular mechanisms remain largely unclear. In GA signaling pathway, DELLA proteins are a group of master transcriptional regulators, while in vernalization pathway FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) is a core transcriptional repressor that down-regulates the expression of SOC1 and FT. Here, we report that DELLA proteins interact with FLC in vitro and in vivo, and the LHRI domains of DELLAs and the C-terminus of MADS domain of FLC are required for these interactions. Phenotypic and gene expression analysis showed that mutation of FLC reduces while over-expression of FLC enhances the GA response in the flowering process. Further, DELLA-FLC interactions promote the repression ability of FLC on its target genes. In summary, these findings report that the interaction between MADS box transcription factor FLC and GRAS domain regulator DELLAs may integrate various signaling inputs in flowering time control, and shed new light on the regulatory mechanism both for FLC and DELLAs in regulating gene expression.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Mingzhe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Fengying
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Wenyang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Mengdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D035264:Flowers / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005875:Gibberellins / Q000494:pharmacology; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000187:drug effects; D000072417:Protein Domains; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; C418902:At5g10140 protein, Arabidopsis; D005875:Gibberellins; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins
keywords: Arabidopsis; DELLAs; FLC; co-repressor; flowering