Arabidopsis ABA receptor RCAR1/PYL9 interacts with an R2R3-type MYB transcription factor, AtMYB44

Int J Mol Sci. 2014 May 13;15(5):8473-90. doi: 10.3390/ijms15058473.

Abstract

Abscisic acid (ABA) signaling plays important roles in plant growth, development and adaptation to various stresses. RCAR1/PYL9 has been known as a cytoplasm and nuclear ABA receptor in Arabidopsis. To obtain further insight into the regulatory mechanism of RCAR1/PYL9, a yeast two-hybrid approach was performed to screen for RCAR1/PYL9-interacting proteins and an R2R3-type MYB transcription factor, AtMYB44, was identified. The interaction between RCAR1/PYL9 and AtMYB44 was further confirmed by glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays. Gene expression analysis showed that AtMYB44 negatively regulated the expression of ABA-responsive gene RAB18, in contrast to the opposite role reported for RCAR1/PYL9. Competitive GST pull-down assay and analysis of phosphatase activity demonstrated that AtMYB44 and ABI1 competed for binding to RCAR1/PYL9 and thereby reduced the inhibitory effect of RCAR1/PYL9 on ABI1 phosphatase activity in the presence of ABA in vitro. Furthermore, transient activation assay in protoplasts revealed AtMYB44 probably also decreased RCAR1/PYL9-mediated inhibition of ABI1 activity in vivo. Taken together, our work provides a reasonable molecular mechanism of AtMYB44 in ABA signaling.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Abscisic Acid / pharmacology
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism*
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / chemistry
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Carrier Proteins / chemistry
  • Carrier Proteins / metabolism*
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / metabolism
  • Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Transcription Factors / chemistry
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • MYB44 protein, Arabidopsis
  • RCAR1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Transcription Factors
  • Abscisic Acid
  • ABI1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Phosphoprotein Phosphatases