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Conserved cis-regulatory elements for DNA-binding-with-one-finger and homeo-domain-leucine-zipper transcription factors regulate companion cell-specific expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana SUCROSE TRANSPORTER 2 gene

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Abstract

The transition from young carbon-importing sink leaves of higher plants to mature carbon-exporting source leaves is paralleled by a complete reversal of phloem function. While sink-leaf phloem mediates the influx of reduced carbon from older source leaves and the release of this imported carbon to the sink-leaf mesophyll, source-leaf phloem catalyzes the uptake of photoassimilates into companion cells (CCs) and sieve elements (SEs) and the net carbon export from the leaf. Phloem loading in source leaves with sucrose, the main or exclusive transport form for fixed carbon in most higher plants, is catalyzed by plasma membrane-localized sucrose transporters. Consistent with the described physiological switch from sink to source, the promoter of the Arabidopsis AtSUC2 gene is active only in source-leaf CCs of Arabidopsis or of transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). For the identification of regulatory elements involved in this companion cell-specific and source-specific gene expression, we performed detailed analyses of the AtSUC2 promoter by truncation and mutagenesis. A 126-bp promoter fragment was identified, which seems to contain these fragments and which drives AtSUC2-typical expression when combined with a 35S minimal promoter. Within this fragment, linker-scanning analyses revealed two cis-regulatory elements that were further characterized as putative binding sites for transcription factors of the DNA-binding-with-one-finger or the homeo-domain-leucine-zipper families. Similar or identical binding sites are found in other genes and in different plant species, suggesting an ancient regulatory mechanism for this important physiological switch.

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Abbreviations

AtSUC2 :

Arabidopsis thaliana SUCROSE TRANSPORTER 2 gene

CC:

Companion cell

CmGAS1 :

Cucumis melo GALACTIONOL SYNTHASE 1 gene

DOF:

DNA-binding-with-one-finger

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

GUS:

β-Glucuronidase

HD-Zip:

Homeo-domain-leucine-zipper

IC:

Intermediary cell

nt:

Nucleotides

ORF:

Open reading frame

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

RFOs:

Raffinose family oligosaccharides

SE:

Sieve element

wt:

Wild type

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB473/A3) to N.S.

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  1. Alexander Schneidereit

    Present address: GENEART AG, BioPark, Josef-Engert-Str. 11, 91053, Regensburg, Germany

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  1. Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Staudtstraße 5, 91058, Erlangen, Germany

    Alexander Schneidereit, Astrid Imlau & Norbert Sauer

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  1. Alexander Schneidereit
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Correspondence to Norbert Sauer.

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Schneidereit, A., Imlau, A. & Sauer, N. Conserved cis-regulatory elements for DNA-binding-with-one-finger and homeo-domain-leucine-zipper transcription factors regulate companion cell-specific expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana SUCROSE TRANSPORTER 2 gene. Planta 228, 651–662 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0767-4

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