Abstract
The Armadillo (ARM)-repeat domain is a 42-amino acid protein–protein interaction motif present in many eukaryotic proteins. ARM-repeat proteins function in many cellular processes, including cytoskeletal regulation, nucleo-cytoplasmic trafficking, and transcriptional regulation. More than 100 genes encoding ARM-repeat proteins are predicted to exist in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome; however, most of them have unknown biological functions. Using map-based cloning, we isolated a novel recessive loss-of-function mutant, lfr-1, with developmental and morphological defects at the vegetative stage in the cotyledons and true leaves, and during the reproductive phase in the flowers and siliques. Complementation experiments and an analysis of the T-DNA insertion mutant lfr-2 revealed that LFR was responsible for all of the mutant phenotypes. LFR encodes a protein with three putative ARM-repeat domains that tends to cluster in the nucleus as discrete rounded speckles. LFR was broadly expressed while LFR was largely concentrated in the stem apex and root tip. Our data suggest that LFR is a novel nuclear-localized ARM-repeat protein that functions in leaf and flower development in Arabidopsis.
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Acknowledgments
The T-DNA insertion lines were provided by the ABRC (http://www.arabidopsis.org) and NASC (http://arabidopsis.info). The DR5::GUS transgenic line was provided by J. Murfett (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO), while pAVA321 35S::YFP was provided by X. Chen (University of California, Riverside, CA). We thank Hai Huang, Lijia Qu, Ligeng Ma, Zhiyong Wang, and Ying Sun for their insightful suggestions and comments on the manuscript. This work was supported in part by grants from China (2006CB910600, NCET-06-0256, and 30871421).
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Wang, Z., Yuan, T., Yuan, C. et al. LFR, which encodes a novel nuclear-localized Armadillo-repeat protein, affects multiple developmental processes in the aerial organs in Arabidopsis . Plant Mol Biol 69, 121–131 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-008-9411-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-008-9411-8