ThWRKY4 from Tamarix hispida Can Form Homodimers and Heterodimers and Is Involved in Abiotic Stress Responses

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Liuqiang Wang¹  Lei Zheng²  Chunrui Zhang²  Yucheng Wang²  Mengzhu Lu¹  Caiqiu Gao² 

[1] State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Key Laboratory of Tree Breeding and Cultivation of the State Forestry Administration, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China;State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding (Northeast Forestry University), 26 Hexing Road, Harbin 150040, China;

关键词: WRKY;    stress response;    dimerization;    Tamarix hispida;    yeast two-hybrid;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms161126009

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

WRKY proteins are a large family of transcription factors that are involved in diverse developmental processes and abiotic stress responses in plants. However, our knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms of WRKYs participation in protein–protein interactions is still fragmentary, and such protein–protein interactions are fundamental in understanding biological networks and the functions of proteins. In this study, we report that a WRKY protein from Tamarix hispida, ThWRKY4, can form both homodimers and heterodimers with ThWRKY2 and ThWRKY3. In addition, ThWRKY2 and ThWRKY3 can both bind to W-box motif with binding affinities similar to that of ThWRKY4. Further, the expression patterns of ThWRKY2 and ThWRKY3 are similar to that of ThWRKY4 when plants are exposed to abscisic acid (ABA). Subcellular localization shows that these three ThWRKY proteins are nuclear proteins. Taken together, these results demonstrate that ThWRKY4 is a dimeric protein that can form functional homodimers or heterodimers that are involved in abiotic stress responses.

【 授权许可】

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© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.