Work

ELF3 Encodes a Circadian Clock-Regulated Nuclear Protein That Functions in an Arabidopsis PHYB Signal Transduction Pathway

Year: 2001

Type: article

Abstract: Many aspects of plant development are regulated by photoreceptor function and the circadian clock. Loss-of-function mutations in the Arabidopsis EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) and PHYTOCHROME B (PHYB) genes cause early flowering and influence the activity of circadian clock-regulated processes. We demonstrate here that the relative abundance of the ELF3 protein, which is a novel nucleus-localized protein, displays circadian regulation that follows the pattern of circadian accumulation of ELF3 transcript. Furthermore, the ELF3 protein interacts with PHYB in the yeast two-hybrid assay and in vitro. Genetic analyses show that ELF3 requires PHYB function in early morphogenesis but not for the regulation of flowering time. This suggests that ELF3 is a component of a PHYB signaling complex that controls early events in plant development but that ELF3 and PHYB control flowering via independent signal transduction pathways.

Source: The Plant Cell

DOI: 10.1105/tpc.000475

Authors: Xing Liang Liu, Michael F. Covington, Christian Fankhauser, Joanne Chory, D. Ry Wagner

Institutions: University of Oregon, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Language: English

Topic: Light effects on plants

Subfield: Plant Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green