Open AccessELF3 Encodes a Circadian Clock-Regulated Nuclear Protein That Functions in an Arabidopsis PHYB Signal Transduction Pathway
Author(s) -
Xing Liang Liu,
Michael F. Covington,
Christian Fankhauser,
Joanne Chory,
Doris Wagner
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the plant cell
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.324
H-Index - 341
eISSN - 1532-298X
pISSN - 1040-4651
DOI - 10.1105/tpc.13.6.1293
Subject(s) - biology , arabidopsis , circadian clock , microbiology and biotechnology , signal transduction , circadian rhythm , phytochrome , genetics , gene , botany , mutant , neuroscience , red light
Many aspects of plant development are regulated by photoreceptor function and the circadian clock. Loss-of-function mutations in the Arabidopsis EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) and PHYTOCHROME B (PHYB) genes cause early flowering and influence the activity of circadian clock-regulated processes. We demonstrate here that the relative abundance of the ELF3 protein, which is a novel nucleus-localized protein, displays circadian regulation that follows the pattern of circadian accumulation of ELF3 transcript. Furthermore, the ELF3 protein interacts with PHYB in the yeast two-hybrid assay and in vitro. Genetic analyses show that ELF3 requires PHYB function in early morphogenesis but not for the regulation of flowering time. This suggests that ELF3 is a component of a PHYB signaling complex that controls early events in plant development but that ELF3 and PHYB control flowering via independent signal transduction pathways.