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  • The EMBO Journal (2008) 27, 2746 - 2756
  • doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.191

Published online: 25 September 2008

ABAP1 is a novel plant Armadillo BTB protein involved in DNA replication and transcription

Hana Paula Masuda1,2,ab, Luiz Mors Cabral1,2,a, Lieven De Veylder3,4, Milos Tanurdzic5, Janice de Almeida Engler6, Danny Geelen3,c, Dirk Inzé3,4, Robert A Martienssen5, Paulo CG Ferreira1,2 and Adriana S Hemerly1,2

  1. Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  2. Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Plantas, Instituto de Pesquisas do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, DIPEC, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  3. Department of Plant Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
  4. Department of Molecular Genetics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
  5. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
  6. Unité Mixte de Recherche 'Interactions Plantes-Microorganismes et Santé Végétale', Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Sophia Antipolis, France

Correspondence to:

Adriana S Hemerly, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, CCS—bloco DSS, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-590, Brazil. Tel.: +55 21 32042085; Fax: +55 21 25626789; E-mail: hemerly@bioqmed.ufrj.br

aThe authors contributed equally to this work

bPresent address: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, 09210-170 Santo André, SP, Brazil

cPresent address: Department of Plant Production, Faculty of Bioengineering, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium

Received 13 July 2008; Accepted 1 September 2008

In multicellular organisms, organogenesis requires a tight control of the balance between cell division and cell differentiation. Distinct signalling pathways that connect both cellular processes with developmental cues might have evolved to suit different developmental plans. Here, we identified and characterized a novel protein that interacts with pre-replication complex (pre-RC) subunits, designated Armadillo BTB Arabidopsis protein 1 (ABAP1). Overexpression of ABAP1 in plants limited mitotic DNA replication and decreased cell proliferation in leaves, whereas ABAP1 downregulation increased cell division rates. Activity of ABAP1 in transcription was supported by its association with the transcription factor AtTCP24. The ABAP1–AtTCP24 complex bound specifically to the promoters of AtCDT1a and AtCDT1b in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, expression levels of AtCDT1a and AtCDT1b were reduced in ABAP1-overexpressing plants and they were increased in plants with reduced levels of ABAP1. We propose that ABAP1 participates in a negative feedback loop regulating mitotic DNA replication during leaf development, either by repressing transcription of pre-RC genes and possibly by regulating pre-RC utilization through direct association with pre-RC components.

  • Keywords:

    • DNA replication,
    • gene transcription,
    • plant development,
    • pre-RC,
    • TCP
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