Plant and Cell Physiology Advance Access published online on December 5, 2006
Plant and Cell Physiology, doi:10.1093/pcp/pcl048
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Temporary expression of the TAF10 gene and its requirement for normal development of Arabidopsis thaliana
1 Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
2 Division of Applied Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
* Corresponding author: E-mail, tfurumoto{at}hiroshima-u.ac.jp; Fax, +81-82-424-7453.
| Abstract |
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TAF10 is one of the TATA box-binding protein (TBP)-associated factors (TAFs), which constitute a TFIID with a TBP. Initially most TAFs were thought to be necessary for accurate transcription initiation from a broad group of core promoters. However, it was recently revealed that several TAFs are expressed in limited tissues during animal embryogenesis, and are indispensable for normal development of the tissues. They are called "selective" TAFs. In plants, however, little is known as to thus "selective" TAFs and their function. Here we isolated the Arabidopsis thaliana TAF10 gene (atTAF10), which is a single gene closely related to the TAF10 genes of other organisms. atTAF10 was expressed transiently during the development of several organs such as lateral roots, rosette leaves and most floral organs. Such an expression pattern was clearly distinct from that of Arabidopsis Rpb1, which encodes a component of RNA polymerase II, suggesting that atTAF10 functions in not only general transcription but also the selective expression of a subset of genes. In a knockdown mutant of atTAF10, we observed several abnormal phenotypes involved in meristem activity and leaf development, suggesting that atTAF10 is concerned in pleiotropic, but selected morphological events in Arabidopsis. These results clearly demonstrate that TAF10 is a "selective" TAF in plants, providing a new insight into the function of TAFs in plants.
Keywords: TAF10 - general transcription factor - morphogenesis - T-DNA insertion mutant - Arabidopsis thaliana
3 Present address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin, 433 Babcock Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
4 Present address: Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research, Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., Kunitachi, Tokyo 186-0011, Japan
5 Present address: Laboratory of Science Communication and Bioethics, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
6 Present address: Department of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama 1-3-1, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8526, Japan
7 Present address: Department of Biotechnological Science, Kinki University, Nishimitani Kinokawa, Wakayama 649-6493, Japan