Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
11
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-1-1
pubmed:abstractText
Most transcription factors act either as activators or repressors, and no such factors with dual function have been unequivocally identified and characterized in plants. We demonstrate here that the Arabidopsis thaliana protein WUSCHEL (WUS), which regulates the maintenance of stem cell populations in shoot meristems, is a bifunctional transcription factor that acts mainly as a repressor but becomes an activator when involved in the regulation of the AGAMOUS (AG) gene. We show that the WUS box, which is conserved among WOX genes, is the domain that is essential for all the activities of WUS, namely, for regulation of stem cell identity and size of floral meristem. All the known activities of WUS were eliminated by mutation of the WUS box, including the ability of WUS to induce the expression of AG. The mutation of the WUS box was complemented by fusion of an exogenous repression domain, with resultant induction of somatic embryogenesis in roots and expansion of floral meristems as observed upon ectopic expression of WUS. By contrast, fusion of an exogenous activation domain did not result in expanded floral meristems but induced flowers similar to those induced by the ectopic expression of AG. Our results demonstrate that WUS acts mainly as a repressor and that its function changes from that of a repressor to that of an activator in the case of regulation of the expression of AG.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
1532-298X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
21
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
3493-505
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-2
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:19897670-AGAMOUS Protein, Arabidopsis, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Arabidopsis, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Arabidopsis Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Body Patterning, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Cell Differentiation, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Flowers, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Gene Fusion, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Homeodomain Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Meristem, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Mutation, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Plant Roots, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Protein Structure, Tertiary, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Repressor Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Seeds, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Stem Cells, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Trans-Activators, pubmed-meshheading:19897670-Transcription Factors
pubmed:year
2009
pubmed:articleTitle
Arabidopsis WUSCHEL is a bifunctional transcription factor that acts as a repressor in stem cell regulation and as an activator in floral patterning.
pubmed:affiliation
Research Institute of Genome-Based Biofactory, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Tsukuba, Japan.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article