The sunflower transcription factor HAHB11 interacts with a KINESIN in Arabidopsis transgenic plants

RIBICHICH KF; CHAN RL; GIACOMELLI JI; MIGUEL VN; MORENO JE

Córdoba

Congreso; SAIB 2016; 2016

Helianthus annuus homeobox 11 (HaHB11) is a divergent member of the sunflower HD-ZipI subfamily of transcriptions factors (TFs). When this TF was ectopically expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana plants, these plants were more tolerant to flooding, drought and salinity and, more important, they showed a significant increase in biomass and seed yield when they were grown in standard conditions.Aiming at understanding the molecular mechanism by which these beneficial phenotypes were generated, HaHB11? putative protein partners were searched. A specialized service carried out yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays using HaHB11 as bait and protein domains of an A. thaliana expression library as preys. Through these experiments, several domain clones of a plant kinesin motor family proteinwith very high confident interaction were identified and then, confirmed by new Y2H assays. Nicotiana benthamiana leaves were transiently transformed with genetic constructs bearing the kinesin and HaHB11 fused to different fluorochromes and analyzed by confocal microscopy. These experiments indicated co-localization of both proteins supporting the interaction between them. Kinesin mutant and overexpressor plants were generated and their phenotype analysed. The role of the kinesin and its interaction with HaHB11 in the TF-generated phenotypes are discussed.