NUCLEAR FACTOR Y transcription factors have both opposing and additive roles in ABA-mediated seed germination

PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e59481. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0059481. Epub 2013 Mar 19.

Abstract

In the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana the heterotrimeric transcription factor NUCLEAR FACTOR Y (NF-Y) has been shown to play multiple roles in facilitating plant growth and development. Although NF-Y itself represents a multi-protein transcriptional complex, recent studies have shown important interactions with other transcription factors, especially those in the bZIP family. Here we add to the growing evidence that NF-Y and bZIP form common complexes to affect many processes. We carried out transcriptional profiling on nf-yc mutants and through subsequent analyses found an enrichment of bZIP binding sites in the promoter elements of misregulated genes. Using NF-Y as bait, yeast two hybrid assays yielded interactions with bZIP proteins that are known to control ABA signaling. Accordingly, we find that plants mutant for several NF-Y subunits show characteristic phenotypes associated with the disruption of ABA signaling. While previous reports have shown additive roles for NF-YC family members in photoperiodic flowering, we found that they can have opposing roles in ABA signaling. Collectively, these results demonstrated the importance and complexity of NF-Y in the integration of environmental and hormone signals.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Abscisic Acid / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • CCAAT-Binding Factor / metabolism*
  • Computational Biology
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Germination / physiology*
  • Microarray Analysis
  • Multiprotein Complexes / metabolism*
  • Protein Interaction Mapping
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Signal Transduction / physiology*
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques

Substances

  • Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors
  • CCAAT-Binding Factor
  • Multiprotein Complexes
  • nuclear factor Y
  • Abscisic Acid

Grants and funding

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IOS-0920258. Additional assistance was provided by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology under Grant No. PSB10-013. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.