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DEVELOPMENT AND HORMONE ACTION

The Arabidopsis Zinc Finger-Homeodomain Genes Encode Proteins with Unique Biochemical Properties That Are Coordinately Expressed during Floral Development¹

Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (Q.K.-G.T., V.F.I.) and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (V.F.I.), Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520–8104

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) contains approximately 100 homeobox genes, many of which have been shown to play critical roles in various developmental processes. Here we characterize the zinc finger-homeodomain (ZF-HD) subfamily of homeobox genes, consisting of 14 members in Arabidopsis. We demonstrate that the HDs of the ZF-HD proteins share some similarities with other known HDs in Arabidopsis, but they contain distinct features that cluster them as a unique class of plant HD-containing proteins. We have carried out mutational analyses to show that the noncanonical residues present in the HDs of this family of proteins are important for function. Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) two-hybrid matrix analyses of the ZF-HD proteins reveal that these proteins both homo- and heterodimerize, which may contribute to greater selectivity in DNA binding. These assays also show that most of these proteins do not contain an intrinsic activation domain, suggesting that interactions with other factors are required for transcriptional activation. We also show that the family members are all expressed predominantly or exclusively in floral tissue, indicating a likely regulatory role during floral development. Furthermore, we have identified loss-of-function mutations for six of these genes that individually show no obvious phenotype, supporting the idea that the encoded proteins have common roles in floral development. Based on these results, we propose the ZF-HD gene family encodes a group of transcriptional regulators with unique biochemical activities that play overlapping regulatory roles in Arabidopsis floral development.

² Present address: Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520–8064.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Vivian F. Irish (vivian.irish{at}yale.edu).

Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.105.070565.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail vivian.irish{at}yale.edu; fax 203–432–5711.

Received August 26, 2005; returned for revision December 16, 2005; accepted January 5, 2006.

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