Plant Physiol. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
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Published on April 4, 2008; 10.1104/pp.108.115923

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Received January 8, 2008
Accepted March 30, 2008

LEUNIG_HOMOLOG and LEUNIG perform partially redundant functions during Arabidopsis embryo and floral development

Jayashree Sitaraman , Minh Bui , and Zhongchi Liu *

Dept. of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742; Dept. of Biology Graduate Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 208742

* Corresponding author; email: zliu{at}umd.edu.

Transcription co-repressors play important roles in animal and plant development. In Arabidopsis thaliana, LEUNIG (LUG) and LEUNIG_HOMOLOG (LUH) encode two highly homologous genes that are similar to the animal and fungal Gro/Tup1 type co-repressors. LUG was previously shown to form a putative co-repressor complex with another protein SEUSS (SEU) and repress the transcription of AGAMOUS in floral organ identity specification. However, the function of LUH is completely unknown. Here, we show that single luh loss-of-function mutations develop normal flowers, but lug; luh double mutants are embryo lethal, uncovering a previously unknown function of LUG and LUH in embryonic development. In addition, luh/+ enhances the floral phenotype of lug, revealing a minor role of LUH in flower development. Functional diversification between LUH and LUG is evidenced by the inability of 35S::LUH over-expression to rescue lug mutants and by the opposite expression trends of LUG and LUH in responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. luh-1 mutation does not enhance the defect of seu in flower development but LUH could directly interact with SEU in yeast. We propose a model that explains the complex relationships among LUH, LUG and SEU. As most eukaryotes have undergone at least one round of whole-genome duplication during evolution, gene duplication and functional diversification are important issues to consider in uncovering gene function. Our study provides important insights into the complexity in the relationship between two highly homologous paralogous genes.






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