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Arabidopsis DDB1a and DDB1b are critical for embryo development

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Abstract

DNA DAMAGED BINDING PROTEIN 1 (DDB1) is a highly conserved protein of around 125 kDa. It serves as a substrate adaptor subunit to a CUL4-based E3 ubiquitin ligase within the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. However, based on a set of three beta-propellers, the protein is able to mediate various protein–protein interactions, suggesting that it participates in many developmental and physiological processes in the plant. Arabidopsis encodes for two closely related DDB1 proteins, named DDB1a and DDB1b. While loss-of DDB1a does not severely affect development, loss-of DDB1b has been reported to result in an embryo lethal phenotype. Here we describe two novel ddb1b T-DNA insertion mutants that are not embryo lethal, which we utilized as genetic tools to dissect DDB1b from DDB1a function. Information generated by these studies showed that the C-terminal part of the DDB1 proteins is critical for specific protein–protein interactions. In addition, we demonstrated that DDB1a, like DDB1b, is critical for embryo development, and that both proteins have distinct functions in whole plant development.

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Abbreviations

DDB1:

DNA DAMAGED BINDING PROTEIN 1

DWD:

DDB1-binding WD-40-box

ATCSA-1:

COCKAYNE SYNDROME FACTOR A

PRL1:

PLEIOTROPIC REGULATORY LOCUS 1

DET1:

DE-ETIOLATED 1

COP1:

CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1

SPA1:

SUPPRESSOR OF PHYA 1

MSI:

MULTICOPY SUPPRESSOR OF IRA1

AG:

AGAMOUS

AP3:

APETALA3

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant HE3224/7-1 to H.H.) and Washington State University for supporting this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany

    Anne Bernhardt

  2. Washington State University, Pullman, USA

    Anne Bernhardt, Sutton Mooney & Hanjo Hellmann

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  1. Anne Bernhardt
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  2. Sutton Mooney
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  3. Hanjo Hellmann
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Correspondence to Hanjo Hellmann.

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Bernhardt, A., Mooney, S. & Hellmann, H. Arabidopsis DDB1a and DDB1b are critical for embryo development. Planta 232, 555–566 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1195-9

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