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The F-box protein TIR1 is an auxin receptor

Nature volume 435, pages 441–445 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The plant hormone auxin regulates diverse aspects of plant growth and development. Recent studies indicate that auxin acts by promoting the degradation of the Aux/IAA transcriptional repressors through the action of the ubiquitin protein ligase SCFTIR1. The nature of the signalling cascade that leads to this effect is not known. However, recent studies indicate that the auxin receptor and other signalling components involved in this response are soluble factors. Using an in vitro pull-down assay, we demonstrate that the interaction between transport inhibitor response 1 (TIR1) and Aux/IAA proteins does not require stable modification of either protein. Instead auxin promotes the Aux/IAA–SCFTIR1 interaction by binding directly to SCFTIR1. We further show that the loss of TIR1 and three related F-box proteins eliminates saturable auxin binding in plant extracts. Finally, TIR1 synthesized in insect cells binds Aux/IAA proteins in an auxin-dependent manner. Together, these results indicate that TIR1 is an auxin receptor that mediates Aux/IAA degradation and auxin-regulated transcription.

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Figure 1: Auxin-induced interaction between Aux/IAA and the SCF TIR1 is dependent on auxin concentration but not temperature.
Figure 2: Partially purified TIR1–Myc interacts with GST–IAA7 in an auxin-dependent manner.
Figure 3: [3H] IAA interacts with the SCFTIR1 complex.
Figure 4: TIR1 protein translated in vitro or expressed in insect cells interacts with GST–IAA7 in an auxin-dependent manner.
Figure 5: A small family of F-box proteins contributes to auxin binding.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Dumas for technical assistance and C. Leblanc for help with insect cell culture. In addition, we thank S. Kepinski and O. Leyser for discussions. Research in the authors' laboratory is supported by grants from the NIH, the NSF and the DOE.

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  1. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, USA

    Nihal Dharmasiri, Sunethra Dharmasiri & Mark Estelle

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  1. Nihal Dharmasiri
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  3. Mark Estelle
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Correspondence to Mark Estelle.

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Dharmasiri, N., Dharmasiri, S. & Estelle, M. The F-box protein TIR1 is an auxin receptor. Nature 435, 441–445 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03543

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