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Published on January 20, 2006; 10.1104/pp.105.075499

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Received December 14, 2005
Returned for revision January 5, 2006
Accepted January 9, 2006

Identification and characterization of the Arabidopsis orthologs of NTF2, the nuclear import factor of Ran

Qiao Zhao , Sara Leung , Anita H. Corbett , and Iris Meier *

Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology and Plant Biotechnology Center, Ohio State University, 1060 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210
Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, 1510 Clifton Rd., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30322

* Corresponding author; email: meier.56{at}osu.edu.

Ran is a multifunctional small GTPase that is involved in nucleocytoplasmic transport, mitotic spindle assembly and nuclear envelope formation. Nuclear import of Ran relies on a small RanGDP-binding protein, Nuclear Transport Factor 2 (NTF2). Three proteins are expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana that show significant sequence similarity to human and yeast NTF2. Here, we demonstrate that two of them, AtNTF2a and AtNTF2b can functionally replace the essential NTF2 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Consistent with this finding, both AtNTF2a and AtNTF2b interact with yeast and Arabidopsis Ran. The third NTF2-related protein, AtNTL, does not functionally replace NTF2 in yeast. Similar to yeast NTF2-GFP, AtNTF2a-GFP and AtNTF2b-GFP accumulate at the nuclear rim. The AtNTF2a E38K and E91K mutants, which fail to bind Ran, are not functional in yeast, indicating conservation of the requirement for these key amino acids in plants and yeast. AtNTF2a overexpression, but not AtNTF2aE38K overexpression blocks nuclear import of a plant transcription factor in Nicothiana benthamiana leaves, indicating that excess AtNTF2a disrupts nuclear import in a Ran-binding dependent manner. On the basis of these results, we propose that AtNTF2a and AtNTF2b function in Ran import in Arabidopsis and that nuclear import of Ran is functionally conserved in plants.




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Q. Zhao, J. Brkljacic, and I. Meier
Two Distinct Interacting Classes of Nuclear Envelope-Associated Coiled-Coil Proteins Are Required for the Tissue-Specific Nuclear Envelope Targeting of Arabidopsis RanGAP
PLANT CELL, June 1, 2008; 20(6): 1639 - 1651.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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