生长素响应因子与植物的生长发育

生长素响应因子(Auxin response factor, ARF)作为一类调控生长素响应基因表达的转录因子, 是生长素研究的重要内容。它可与生长素响应基因启动子区域内的生长素响应元件结合, 促进或抑制基因的表达。文章介绍了植物体内ARF家族的分子生物学近年来的研究进展, 同时也讨论了ARF转录因子的结构、ARF基因的表达调控、ARF在植物生长发育及信号转导中的作用以及ARF对靶基因的调控机制等内容。植物ARF成员都有一定的同源性, 大多含有4个结构域, 在多种组织和器官中都有表达, 其表达受到转录及转录后调控, 并且在介导生长素与其它激素之间相互作用方面扮演重要角色。     

植物生长素反应因子研究进展

生长素反应因子（ARFs）是植物生长和发育的重要调节因子,在生长素早期反应蛋白（Aux／IAAs）的参与下,通过和生长素反应基因启动子区AuxRE元件的JTGTCTC序列结合,共同调控这些基因的表达。近年来关于生长素反应因子的分子结构和ARF与Aux／IAA的相互作用及其对植物生长和发育的影响、作用的靶基因以及分子机制受到人们的重视,并在这些方面做了大量的研究。     

芒果生长素反应因子类蛋白的cDNA克隆和表达

通过SSH法获得了一个与不定根形成相关的差异表达的cDNA片段,其推导的氨基酸序列与拟南芥的生长素反应因子(ARF)类蛋白具有较大的同源性,因此将它命名为MiARF。用所设计的基因特异引物进行3′RACE扩增获得包含完整读码框架(ORF)的MiARF1（GenBank登录号为AY255705）和MiARF2（GenBank登录号为AY300808）。MiARF1全长为3272bp,其中,ORF含2523bp,5′非翻译区（5′UTR）含285bp, 3′非翻译区(3′UTR)含464bp。由该序列所推导的氨基酸序列与拟南芥ARF2（BAB10162）的ID值为64%, E值为0,在DNA结合区域（DBD）、III和IV区域的同源性更高,ID值均大于80%。MiARF2cDNA全长为1474bp,其中ORF含981bp,5′非翻译区含285bp, 3′非翻译区含208bp,由该序列所推导的氨基酸序列与拟南芥ARF2（BAB10162）的ID值为84%,E值为e-151。 MiARF2仅具有DBD保守区并与MiARF1的基本相同,但缺乏III和IV区域。Virtural Northern 杂交表明：MiARF2在生根的组织中表达水平高, 而在非生根的组织中未见表达;MiARF1在生根及非生根的组织中均有表达。     

Auxin response factor family in rice

We isolated 11 rice genes homologous to the genes encoding auxin response factors (ARFs) in Arabidopsis. All of the genes encoded a well-conserved amino acid sequence in the N-terminal region, which is considered to be a DNA-binding domain (DBD). Phylogenetic analysis based on comparison of the DBDs indicated that rice has one or two closely related orthologs corresponding to a given respective ARF gene in Arabidopsis. We also analyzed the amino acid sequences of another conserved domain in the C-terminal conserved domain (CTD), which was shared by almost all the rice ARFs, with the exception of OsETTIN1 and OsETTIN2. These results agreed well with the evolutionary relationship deduced from the DBD comparison. In contrast to many ARFs, OsETTIN1 and OsETTIN2 do not contain the conserved C-terminal domain, but do share another consensus motif that is also found in Arabidopsis ETTIN. All of the above observations indicate that rice has functionally diversified ARF genes whose structures and functions correspond to those of various Arabidopsis ARFs, with one or two rice ARFs corresponding to a given Arabidopsis ARF. Thus, auxin signal transduction mechanisms may be well conserved between monocot and dicot plants.     

Tissue-specific expression of stabilized SOLITARY-ROOT/IAA14 alters lateral root development in Arabidopsis

Auxin is important for lateral root (LR) initiation and subsequent LR primordium development. However, the roles of tissue-specific auxin signaling in these processes are poorly understood. We analyzed transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the stabilized mutant INDOLE-3 ACETIC ACID 14 (IAA14)/SOLITARY-ROOT (mIAA14) protein as a repressor of the auxin response factors (ARFs), under the control of tissue-specific promoters. We showed that plants expressing the mIAA14-glucocorticoid receptor (GR) fusion protein under the control of the native IAA14 promoter had the solitary-root/iaa14 mutant phenotypes, including the lack of LR formation under dexamethasone (Dex) treatment, indicating that mIAA14-GR is functional in the presence of Dex. We then demonstrated that expression of mIAA14-GR under the control of the stele-specific SHORT-ROOT promoter suppressed LR formation, and showed that mIAA14-GR expression in the protoxylem-adjacent pericycle also blocked LR formation, indicating that the normal auxin response mediated by auxin/indole-3 acetic acid (Aux/IAA) signaling in the protoxylem pericycle is necessary for LR formation. In addition, we demonstrated that expression of mIAA14-GR under either the ARF7 or the ARF19 promoter also suppressed LR formation as in the arf7 arf19 double mutants, and that IAA14 interacted with ARF7 and ARF19 in yeasts. These results strongly suggest that mIAA14-GR directly inactivates ARF7/ARF19 functions, thereby blocking LR formation. Post-embryonic expression of mIAA14-GR under the SCARECROW promoter, which is expressed in the specific cell lineage during LR primordium formation, caused disorganized LR development. This indicates that normal auxin signaling in LR primordia, which involves the unknown ARFs and Aux/IAAs, is necessary for the establishment of LR primordium organization. Thus, our data show that tissue-specific expression of a stabilized Aux/IAA protein allows analysis of tissue-specific auxin responses in LR development by inactivating ARF functions.     

ARF5/MONOPTEROS(MP)调控作用研究进展

生长素响应因子(auxin response factors,ARFs)是生长素响应机制中的重要元件,其中,ARF5/MONOPTEROS(MP)参与调控许多生长发育过程。该文对近年来国内外有关ARF5/MP的研究进展,以及由ARF5/MP介导的生长素应答通路在拟南芥的胚根原特化、维管组织发育、茎尖发育等过程中的作用以及鉴于ARFs成员之间在结构和功能上的保守性等研究进展进行综述,为阐明植物体对生长素响应的分子机理提供参考。