First published online July 14, 2006; 10.1104/pp.106.084319
Plant Physiology 142:364-376 (2006)
© 2006 American Society of Plant Biologists
SYSTEMS BIOLOGY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, AND GENE REGULATION
The TATA-Box Sequence in the Basal Promoter Contributes to Determining Light-Dependent Gene Expression in Plants1,[W]
Kanti Kiran2,
Suraiya A. Ansari2,
Rakesh Srivastava,
Niraj Lodhi,
Chandra Prakash Chaturvedi,
Samir V. Sawant and
Rakesh Tuli*
National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow 226001, India
A prototype 13-bp TATA-box sequence, TCACTATATATAG, was mutated at each nucleotide position and examined for its function in the core promoter. Specific nucleotides in the first TATA, the second TATA, as well as the flanking sequences influenced promoter function in transient transformation of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum var Petit Havana) leaves. The effect of a given mutation on reporter gene expression in light versus dark was variable and sometimes contrasting. Some mutations, like T7 or A8 C or G, completely inactivated the expression of the minimal promoter in light but not in dark. In general, the sequence requirement for dark expression was less stringent than that for light expression. The selective effect of TATA-box mutations on light versus dark expression was exerted on core promoter function in the chromatin-integrated state also. Even in the presence of an upstream light response activator element, TATA-box mutations influenced modulation of the promoter by light. An A at the eighth position was specifically involved in the red light response of the promoter. Selectivity in gene expression was associated with a high level of transcript initiation from a site that was not active in the dark. Nuclear proteins from dark- and light-grown seedlings showed that the sequence variation within the TATA-box governs the formation of alternative transcriptional complexes. The experiments give direct evidence for the role of a core TATA-box sequence in determining the level as well as selectivity of gene expression in plants.
1 This work was supported by a grant from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, under the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative program.
2 These authors contributed equally to the paper.
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: Rakesh Tuli (rakeshtuli{at}hotmail.com).
[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.
www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.106.084319
* Corresponding author; e-mail rakeshtuli{at}hotmail.com; fax 9105222205836.
Received May 30, 2006;
accepted July 10, 2006.
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