title: Overview of OVATE FAMILY PROTEINS, A Novel Class of Plant-Specific Growth Regulators.
abstract: OVATE FAMILY PROTEINS (OFPs) are a class of proteins with a conserved OVATE domain. OVATE protein was first identified in tomato as a key regulator of fruit shape. OFPs are plant-specific proteins that are widely distributed in the plant kingdom including mosses and lycophytes. Transcriptional activity analysis of Arabidopsis OFPs (AtOFPs) in protoplasts suggests that they act as transcription repressors. Functional characterization of OFPs from different plant species including Arabidopsis, rice, tomato, pepper, and banana suggests that OFPs regulate multiple aspects of plant growth and development, which is likely achieved by interacting with different types of transcription factors including the KNOX and BELL classes, and/or directly regulating the expression of target genes such as Gibberellin 20 oxidase (GA20ox). Here, we examine how OVATE was originally identified, summarize recent progress in elucidation of the roles of OFPs in regulating plant growth and development, and describe possible mechanisms underpinning this regulation. Finally, we review potential new research directions that could shed additional light on the functional biology of OFPs in plants.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of MOE and Institute of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Shucai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Northeast Agricultural University Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Michael Smith Laboratories, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ellis
keywords: Arabidopsis; OVATE; OVATE FAMILY PROTEINS; fruit shape; pepper; plant growth and development; rice; transcription factor