N-terminal domains of DELLA proteins are intrinsically unstructured in the absence of interaction with GID1/gibberellic acid receptors

J Biol Chem. 2010 Apr 9;285(15):11557-71. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M109.027011. Epub 2010 Jan 26.

Abstract

The plant growth-repressing DELLA proteins (DELLAs) are known to represent a convergence point in integration of multiple developmental and environmental signals in planta, one of which is hormone gibberellic acid (GA). Binding of the liganded GA receptor (GID1/GA) to the N-terminal domain of DELLAs is required for GA-induced degradation of DELLAs via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, thus derepressing plant growth. However, the conformational changes of DELLAs upon binding to GID1/GA, which are the key to understanding the precise mechanism of GID1/GA-mediated degradation of DELLAs, remain unclear. Using biophysical, biochemical, and bioinformatics approaches, we demonstrated for the first time that the unbound N-terminal domains of DELLAs are intrinsically unstructured proteins under physiological conditions. Within the intrinsically disordered N-terminal domain of DELLAs, we have identified several molecular recognition features, sequences known to undergo disorder-to-order transitions upon binding to interacting proteins in intrinsically unstructured proteins. In accordance with the molecular recognition feature analyses, we have observed the binding-induced folding of N-terminal domains of DELLAs upon interaction with AtGID1/GA. Our results also indicate that DELLA proteins can be divided into two subgroups in terms of their molecular compactness and their interactions with monoclonal antibodies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / chemistry
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / chemistry*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Gibberellins / chemistry*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutation
  • Plant Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / chemistry*
  • Receptors, Cell Surface / metabolism
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • GID1a protein, Arabidopsis
  • Gibberellins
  • Plant Proteins
  • Receptors, Cell Surface
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • gibberellic acid