title: The inhibition of protein translation mediated by AtGCN1 is essential for cold tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: In yeast, the interaction of General Control Non-derepressible 1 (GCN1) with GCN2 enables GCN2 to phosphorylate eIF2α (the alpha subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2) under a variety of stresses. Here, we cloned AtGCN1, an Arabidopsis homologue of GCN1. We show that AtGCN1 directly interacts with GCN2 and is essential for the phosphorylation of eIF2α under salicylic acid (SA), ultraviolet (UV), cold stress and amino acid deprivation conditions. Two mutant alleles, atgcn1-1 and atgcn1-2, which are defective in the phosphorylation of eIF2α, showed increased sensitivity to cold stress, compared with the wild type. Ribosome-bound RNA profiles showed that the translational state of mRNA was higher in atgcn1-1 than in the wild type. Our result also showed that cold treatment reduced the tendency of the tor mutant seedlings to produce purple hypocotyls. In addition, the kinase activity of TOR was transiently inhibited when plants were exposed to cold stress, suggesting that the inhibition of TOR is another pathway important for plants to respond to cold stress. In conclusion, our results indicate that the AtGCN1-mediated phosphorylation of eIF2α, which is required for inhibiting the initiation of protein translation, is essential for cold tolerance in Arabidopsis.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.
authors: Linjuan
authors: L
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.
authors: Houhua
authors: H
authors: Li
authors: Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2010, USA.
authors: Chunzhao
authors: C
authors: Zhao
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.
authors: Shengfei
authors: S
authors: Li
authors: School of Sciences, Northeast of Normal University, Changchun, 130024, China.
authors: Lingyao
authors: L
authors: Kong
authors: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201602, China.
authors: Wenwu
authors: W
authors: Wu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.
authors: Weisheng
authors: W
authors: Kong
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Liu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.
authors: Yuanyuan
authors: Y
authors: Wei
authors: Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 201602, China.|Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2010, USA.
authors: Jian-Kang
authors: JK
authors: Zhu
authors: State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, College of Life Science, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China.|Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 47907-2010, USA.
authors: Hairong
authors: H
authors: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003080:Cold Temperature; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000187:drug effects; D006540:Herbicides / Q000633:toxicity; D008954:Models, Biological; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000187:drug effects; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000633:toxicity; D014227:Triazines / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D015852:Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2; D006540:Herbicides; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D013449:Sulfonamides; D014227:Triazines; D011494:Protein Kinases; C480318:GCN2 protein, Arabidopsis; C037137:chlorsulfuron
keywords: GCN1; GCN2; TOR; amino acid deprivation; cold stress; eIF2α phosphorylation