Arabidopsis CUL3A and CUL3B genes are essential for normal embryogenesis

Cullin (CUL)-dependent ubiquitin ligases form a class of structurally related multisubunit enzymes that control the rapid and selective degradation of important regulatory proteins involved in cell cycle progression and development, among others. The CUL3-BTB ligases belong to this class of enzymes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology 2005-08, Vol.43 (3), p.437-448
Main Authors: Thomann, A, Brukhin, V, Dieterle, M, Gheyeselinck, J, Vantard, M, Grossniklaus, U, Genschik, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
amino acid sequences
Arabidopsis - embryology
Arabidopsis - genetics
Arabidopsis thaliana
Biological and medical sciences
Botany
Carrier Proteins - genetics
Cell Cycle
cullin
DNA, Bacterial - genetics
embryo (plant)
embryogenesis
endosperm
Enzymes
Fructification and ripening
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
gametophytes
gene expression
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Genetics
Germination
Life Sciences
Molecular Sequence Data
Mutation
nucleotide sequences
Other
Phenotype
phenotypic variation
plant morphology
Plant physiology and development
plant proteins
Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics
seed germination
Seeds - genetics
Seeds - growth & development
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
transport proteins
ubiquitin
Vegetative and sexual reproduction, floral biology, fructification
Yeast
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Summary:Cullin (CUL)-dependent ubiquitin ligases form a class of structurally related multisubunit enzymes that control the rapid and selective degradation of important regulatory proteins involved in cell cycle progression and development, among others. The CUL3-BTB ligases belong to this class of enzymes and despite recent findings on their molecular composition, our knowledge on their functions and substrates remains still very limited. In contrast to budding and fission yeast, CUL3 is an essential gene in metazoans. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana encodes two related CUL3 genes, called CUL3A and CUL3B. We recently reported that cul3a loss-of-function mutants are viable but exhibit a mild flowering and light sensitivity phenotype. We investigated the spatial and temporal expression of the two CUL3 genes in reproductive tissues and found that their expression patterns are largely overlapping suggesting possible functional redundancy. Thus, we investigated the consequences on plant development of combined Arabidopsis cul3a cul3b loss-of-function mutations. Homozygous cul3b mutant plants developed normally and were fully fertile. However, the disruption of both the CUL3A and CUL3B genes reduced gametophytic transmission and caused embryo lethality. The observed embryo abortion was found to be under maternal control. Arrest of embryogenesis occurred at multiple stages of embryo development, but predominantly at the heart stage. At the cytological level, CUL3 loss-of-function mutations affected both embryo pattern formation and endosperm development.
ISSN:0960-7412
1365-313X
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2005.02467.x