title: Functional conservation of rice OsNF-YB/YC and Arabidopsis AtNF-YB/YC proteins in the regulation of flowering time.
abstract: Rice Os NF - YB and Os NF - YC complement the late flowering phenotype of Arabidopsis nf - yb double and nf - yc triple mutants, respectively. In addition, OsNF-YB and OsNF-YC interact with AtNF-YC and AtNF-YB, respectively. Plant NUCLEAR FACTOR Y (NF-Y) transcription factors play important roles in plant development and abiotic stress. In Arabidopsis thaliana, two NF-YB (AtNF-YB2 and AtNF-YB3) and five NF-YC (AtNF-YC1, AtNF-YC2, AtNF-YC3, AtNF-YC4, and AtNF-YC9) genes regulate photoperiodic flowering by interacting with other AtNF-Y subunit proteins. Three rice NF-YB (OsNF-YB8, OsNF-YB10, and OsNF-YB11) and five rice OsNF-YC (OsNF-YC1, OsNF-YC2, OsNF-YC4, OsNF-YC6, and OsNF-YC7) genes are clustered with two AtNF-YB and five AtNF-YC genes, respectively. To investigate the functional conservation of these NF-YB and NF-YC genes in rice and Arabidopsis, we analyzed the flowering phenotypes of transgenic plants overexpressing the respective OsNF-YB and OsNF-YC genes in Arabidopsis mutants. Overexpression of OsNF-YB8/10/11 and OsNF-YC2 complemented the late flowering phenotype of Arabidopsis nf-yb2 nf-yb3 and nf-yc3 nf-yc4 nf-yc9 mutants, respectively. The rescued phenotype of 35S::OsNF-YC2 nf-yc3 nf-yc4 nf-yc9 plants was attributed to the upregulation of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1). In vitro and in planta protein-protein analyses revealed that OsNF-YB8/10/11 and OsNF-YC1/2/4/6/7 interact with AtNF-YC3/4/9 and AtNF-YB2/3, respectively. Our data indicate that some OsNF-YB and OsNF-YC genes are functional equivalents of AtNF-YB2/3 and AtNF-YC3/4/9 genes, respectively, and suggest functional conservation of Arabidopsis and rice NF-Y genes in the control of flowering time.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Sciences, Korea University, Anam-dong 5 ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Hyung
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioresource Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-747, Republic of Korea.|Center for Desert Agriculture, Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Soon-Kap
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Sciences, Korea University, Anam-dong 5 ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Keh Chien
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Engineering, Dong-A University, Busan, 604-714, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Soo
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioresource Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Gunja-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 143-747, Republic of Korea. jhwanlee90@sejong.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jeong Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Sciences, Korea University, Anam-dong 5 ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-701, Republic of Korea. jkkim@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Jeong-Kook
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D035264:Flowers / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: AtNF-YB/YC; Flowering time; NUCLEAR FACTOR Y transcription factors; OsNF-YB/YC; Protein–protein interaction