Structural insights into the multivalent binding of the Arabidopsis FLOWERING LOCUS T promoter by the CO-NF-Y master transcription factor complex

第一作者：Xinchen Lv

第一单位：中科院分子植物科学卓越创新中心

通讯作者：Jiamu Du

 Abstract 

背景回顾：Flowering plants sense various environmental and endogenous signals to trigger the floral transition and start the reproductive growth cycle. CONSTANS (CO) is a master transcription factor in the photoperiod floral pathway that integrates upstream signals and activates the florigen gene FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT).

主要研究：Here, we performed comprehensive structural and biochemical analyses to study the molecular mechanism underlying the regulation of FT by CO in Arabidopsis thaliana.

结果1-结合元件：We show that the four previously characterized cis-elements in the FT promoter proximal region, CORE1, CORE2, P1 and P2, are all direct CO binding sites.

结果2-结合基序：Structural analysis of CO in complex with NUCLEAR FACTOR-YB/YC (NF-YB/YC) and the CORE2 or CORE1 elements revealed the molecular basis for the specific recognition of the shared TGTG motifs.

结果3-多价结合：Biochemical analysis suggested that CO might form a homomultimeric assembly via its N-terminal B-Box domain and simultaneously occupy multiple cis-elements within the FT promoter. We suggest that this multivalent binding gives the CO-NF-Y complex high affinity and specificity for FT promoter binding.

结论：Overall, our data provide a detailed molecular model for the regulation of FT by the master transcription factor complex CO-NF-Y during the floral transition.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koab016

Journal: Plant Cell

Published date: Jan 25, 2021