Journal
ANNALS OF BOTANY
Volume 96, Issue 4, Pages 669-681Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/aob/mci219
Keywords
anaerobic genes; promoters; motifs; anaerobic response elements; ab initio motif detection; transcription factors; transcription factor-binding sites; Arabidopsis thaliana; ethanolic fermentative pathway
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background and Aims Plants can suffer from oxygen limitation during flooding or more complete submergence and may therefore switch from Kreb's cycle respiration to fermentation in association with the expression of anaerobically inducible genes coding for enzymes involved in glycolysis and fermentation. The aim of this study was to clarify mechanisms of transcriptional regulation of these anaerobic genes by identifying motifs shared by their promoter regions. Methods Statistically significant motifs were detected by an in silico method from 13 promoters of anaerobic genes. The selected motifs were common for the majority of analysed promoters. Their significance was evaluated by searching for their presence in transcription factor-binding site databases (TRANSFAC, PlantCARE and PLACE). Using several negative control data sets, it was tested whether the motifs found were specific to the anaerobic group. Key Results Previously, anaerobic response elements have been identified in maize (Zea mays) and arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) genes. Known functional motifs were detected, such as GT and GC motifs, but also other motifs shared by most of the genes examined. Five motifs detected have not been found in plants hitherto but are present in the promoters of animal genes with various functions. The consensus sequences of these novel motifs are 5'-AAACAAA-3', 5'-AGCAGC-3', 5'-TCATCAC-3', 5'-GTTT(A/C/T)GCAA-3' and 5'-TTCCCTGTT-3'. Conclusions It is believed that the promoter motifs identified could be functional by conferring anaerobic sensitivity to the genes that possess them. This proposal now requires experimental verification.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available