Dynamic subnuclear relocalisation of WRKY40 in response to Abscisic acid in Arabidopsis thaliana

WRKY18, WRKY40 and WRKY60 are members of the WRKY transcription factor family and function as transcriptional regulators in ABA signal transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here we show that WRKY18 and WRKY40, but not WRKY60, co-localise with PIF3, PIF4 and PHYB to Phytochrome B-containing nuclear bodies (PNBs). Localisation to the PNBs is phosphorylation-dependent and is inhibited by the general Ser/Thr-kinase inhibitor Staurosporine. Upon ABA treatment, WRKY40 relocalises from PNBs to the nucleoplasm in an OST1-dependent manner. This stimulus-induced relocalisation was not observed in response to other abiotic or biotic stimuli, including NaCl, MeJA or flg22 treatment. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation experiments indicate that while PIF3, PIF4 and PHYB physically interact in these bodies, PHYB, PIF3 and PIF4 do not interact with the two WRKY transcription factors, which may suggest a more general role for these bodies in regulation of transcriptional activity.