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Toward a better understanding of canonical and non‐canonical cap‐binding complex subunits of Arabidopsis thaliana
Author(s) -
Patrick Ryan M,
Mayberry Laura K,
Choy Grace,
Gebhard Mark C,
Browning Karen S
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.551.9
Subject(s) - eif4g , biology , arabidopsis , eif4e , arabidopsis thaliana , brassicaceae , genetics , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , botany , gene , translation (biology) , messenger rna , mutant
The eIF4F cap‐binding complex, made up of the mRNA cap‐binding protein eIF4E and the large scaffolding protein eIF4G, is a key regulatory point for translational control in eukaryotes. Gene duplications of eIF4F proteins are common and may have evolved specialized functions. Higher plants have a conserved eIF4F complex as well as a plant‐specific eIFiso4F complex. We have used the increasing availability of plant genomic sequence data to trace the origin of the different cap‐binding complex constituents of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana . Our findings indicate that the eIF4F complex and eIFiso4G are conserved throughout land plants and green algae, while eIFiso4E evolved recently after the emergence of flowering plants. We have also identified structural motifs that are signatures of eIF4G and eIFiso4G proteins. The Brassicaceae family, of which Arabidopsis is a member, has a unique form of eIF4E which we have found has divergent binding affinity for eIF4G in vitro but retains some translation‐enhancing function. These findings have helped us better define the canonical constituents of translation initiation in higher plants as a basis for continuing research. This research was supported by National Science Foundation grants to K.S.B. (MCB1052530 and MCB0745146)