Abscisic acid (ABA, 1) is a plant hormone that regulates various plant physiological processes such as seed developing and stress responses. The ABA signaling system has been elucidated; binding of ABA with PYL proteins triggers ABA signaling. We have previously reported a new method to isolate a protein targeted with a bioactive small molecule using a biotin linker with alkyne and amino groups, a protein cross-linker, and a bioactive small molecule with an azido group (azido probe). This method was used to identify the unknown ABA binding protein of Arabidopsis thaliana. As a result, AtTrxh3, a thioredoxin, was isolated as an ABA binding protein. Our developed method can be applied to the identification of binding proteins of bioactive compounds.
Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana; abscisic acid; affinity chromatography; click chemistry; target protein; thioredoxin.