Abstract
Homeodomains (HDs) are DNA-binding domains that have been well characterized in animals, and HD proteins are thought to be regulators of transcription. To investigate the regulation of gene expression during somatic embryogenesis in carrot, an attempt was made to isolate cDNA clones that encode HD proteins. A cDNA library from carrot somatic embryos was screened with a degenerate oligonucleotide probe that corresponded to a conserved amino acid sequence of HDs, and one cDNA clone (CHB1) encoding an HD protein was isolated. The amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence of this clone contained a putative leucine zipper motif adjacent to the anticipated HD. The homeodomain/leucine zipper (HD-Zip) sequence of this cDNA was used for further screening, and five additional independent clones (CHB2 through CHB6) were isolated. Although the HD-Zip sequences encoded by these clones were similar to each other, the sequences beyond the HD-Zip regions varied greatly. Transcripts corresponding to CHB1 through CHB6 were expressed at different times during somatic embryogenesis. In particular, transcripts corresponding to CHB2 were expressed in close association with the early development of embryos.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bellmann R, Werr W: Zmhoxla, the product of a novel maize homeobox gene, interacts with the Shrunken 26 bp feedback control element. EMBO J 11: 3367–3374 (1992).
Berk AJ, Sharp PA: Spliced early mRNA of simian virus 40. Proc Natl Acad1 Sci USA 75: 1274–1278 (1978).
Burglin TR, Finney M, Coulson A, Ruvkun G: Caenorhabditis elegans has scores of homeobox-containing genes. Nature 341: 239–243 (1989).
Carabelli M, Sessa G, Baima S, Morelli G, Ruberti I: The Arabidopsis Athb-2 and -4 genes are strongly induced by far-red-rich light. Plant J 4: 469–479 (1993).
Fujimura T, Komamine A: Effects of various growth regulators on the embryogenesis in a carrot cell suspension culture. Plant Sci Lett 5: 359–364 (1975).
Fujimura T, Komamine A: Synchronization of somatic embryogenesis in a carrot cell suspension culture. Plant Physiol 64: 162–164 (1979).
Fujimura T, Komamine A: Involvement of endogenous auxin in somatic embryogenesis in a carrot cell suspension culture. Z Pflanzenphysiol 95: 13–19 (1979).
Fujimural T, Komamine A: Mode of action of 2,4-D and zeatin on somatic embryogenesis in a carrot cell suspension culture. Z Pflanzenphysiol 99: 1–8 (1980).
Gehring WJ: Homeo boxes in the study of development. Science 236: 1245–1253 (1987).
Gehring WJ: The homeobox in perspective. Trends Biochem Sci 17: 277–280 (1992).
Hake S, Vollbrecht E, Freeling M: Cloning Knotted, the dominant morphological mutant in maize using Ds2 as a transposon tag. EMBO J 8: 15–22 (1989).
Halperin W: Alternative morphogenetic events in cell suspensions. Am J Bot 53: 443–453 (1966).
Kano-Murakami Y, Yanai T, Tagiri A, Matsuoka M: A rice homeotic gene, OSH1, causes unusual phenotypes in transgenic tobacco. FEBS Lett 334: 365–368 (1993).
Kappen C, Schughart K, Ruddle FH: Early evolutionary origin of major homeodomain sequence classes. Genomics. 18: 54–70 (1993).
Kawahara R, Sunabori S, Fukuda H, Komamine A: A gene expressed preferentially in the globular stage of somatic embryogenesis encodes elongation-factor 1α in carrot. Eur J Biochem 209: 157–162 (1992).
Kawahara R, Sunabori S, Fukuda H, Komamine A: Analysis by in situ hybridization of the expression of elongation factor 1α in the carrot cells during somatic embryogenesis. J Plant Res 107: 361–364 (1994).
Landschulz WH, Johnson PF, McKnight SL: The leucine zipper: a hypothetical structure common to a new class of DNA binding proteins. Science 240: 1759–1764 (1988).
Laughon A: DNA binding specificity of homeodomains. Biochemistry 30: 11357–11367 (1991).
Maniatis T, Fritsch EF, Sambrook J: Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY (1982).
Matsuoka M, Ichikawa H, Saito A, Tada Y, Fujimura T, Kano-Murakami Y: Expression of a rice homeobox gene causes altered morphology of transgenic plants. Plant Cell 5: 1039–1048 (1993).
Mattsson J, Soderman E, Svenson M, Borkird C, Engstrom P: A new homeobox-leucine zipper gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol Biol 18: 1019–1022 (1992).
Ozeki Y, Matsui Y, Sakuta M, Matsuoka M, Ohashi Y, Kano-Murakami Y, Yamamoto N, Tanaka Y: Differential regulation of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase genes during anthocyanin synthesis and by transfer effect in carrot cell suspension cultures. Physiol Plant 80: 379–387 (1990).
Ruberti I, Sessa G, Lucchetti S, Morelli G: A novel class of plant proteins containing a homeodomain with a closely linked leucine zipper motif. EMBO J 10: 1787–1791 (1991).
Schena M, Davis RW: HD-Zip proteins: members of an Arabidopsis homeodomain protein superfamily. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89: 3894–3898 (1992).
Schena M, Lloyd AM, Davis RW: The HAT4 gene of Arabidopsis encodes a developmental regulator. Genes Devel 7: 367–379 (1993).
Schindler U, Beckmann H, Cashmore AR: HAT3.1, a novel Arabidopsis homeodomain protein containing a conserved cysteine-rich region. Plant J 4: 137–150 (1993).
Scott MP, Tamkun JW, Hartzell GWIII: The structure and function of the homeodomain. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer 989: 25–48 (1989).
Sessa G, Morelli G, Ruberti I: The Athb-1 and -2 HD-Zip domains homodimerize forming complexes of different DNA binding specificities. EMBO J 12: 3507–3517 (1993).
Sinha NR, Williams RE, Hake S: Overexpression of the maize homeo box gene, KNOTTED-1, causes a switch from determinate to indeterminate cell fates. Genes Devel 7: 785–795 (1993).
Smith LG, Greene B, Veit B, Hake S: A dominant mutation in the maize homeobox gene, Knotted-1, causes its ectopic expression in leaf cells with altered fates. Development 116: 21–30 (1992).
Vollbrecht E, Veit B, Sinha N, Hake S: The developmental gene Knotted-1 is a member of a maize homeobox gene family. Nature 350: 241–243 (1991).
Zimmerman JL: Somatic embryogenesis: a model for early development in higher plants. Plant Cell 5: 1411–1423 (1993).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kawahara, R., Komamine, A. & Fukuda, H. Isolation and characterization of homeobox-containing genes of carrot. Plant Mol Biol 27, 155–164 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019187
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019187