COP1, AN ARABIDOPSIS REGULATORY GENE, ENCODES A PROTEIN WITH BOTH A ZINC-BINDING MOTIF AND A G BETA HOMOLOGOUS DOMAIN

Citation:

Deng, XW, Matsui M, Wei N, Wagner D, Chu AM, Feldmann KA, Quail PH.  1992.  COP1, an Arabidopsis regulatory gene, encodes a protein with both a zinc-binding motif and a G beta homologous domain, Nov 27. Cell. 71:791-801., Number 5

Abstract:

Plant seedling development is capable of following 1 of 2 distinct morphogenic pathways: skotomorphogenesis in darkness and photomorphogenesis in light. Dark-grown Arabidopsis seedlings with recessive mutations at the constitutively photomorphogenic (COP1) locus indicate that the wild-type COP1 protein represses photomorphogenesis in darkness and that light reverses this repressive activity. Using a T-DNA-tagged mutant, we have cloned the COP1 locus. The amino-terminal half of the encoded protein contains a conserved zinc-binding motif, whereas the carboxyl-terminal half contains a domain homologous to the WD-40 repeat motif of G beta proteins. The presence of both a putative DNA-binding motif and a G protein-related domain in a single polypeptide suggests that COP1 may be the first of a new class of regulatory molecules. This novel structure could endow COP1 with the capacity to function as a negative transcriptional regulator capable of direct interaction with components of the G protein signaling pathway.

Notes:

Deng, X WMatsui, MWei, NWagner, DChu, A MFeldmann, K AQuail, P H1-R29-GM47850-01/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/Cell. 1992 Nov 27;71(5):791-801.

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