ELF3 encodes a circadian clock-regulated nuclear protein that functions in an Arabidopsis PHYB signal transduction pathway

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 S (PHYS) 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.