The autonomous pathway promotes flowering by repressing a major flowering repressor, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). Approximately 30 genes are involved in this pathway, and several of them are related to RNA processing; however, the molecular basis of the transcriptional regulation of FLC is yet to be understood. Recently, we discovered a new autonomous pathway gene, TATA-binding protein-associated factor 15b (TAF15b), which has a RNA recognition motif (RRM) and represses the level of FLC transcripts. TAF15b regulates the expression of FLC by directly interacting with RNA polymerase II (Pol II) at the transcription start sites on both the sense and antisense strands of the FLC locus. In addition to the transcriptional regulation in the nucleus, TAF15b accumulates in processing bodies (p-bodies), which are cytoplasmic RNA granules involved in translational repression, during heat stress. Here we discuss the implications of our findings and suggest a dual role of TAF15b in both transcriptional and translational regulation.
Keywords: FLC; RNA polymerase II; TAF15b; autonomous pathway; flowering time; transcriptional regulation.