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Tobacco ZFT1, a Transcriptional Repressor with a Cys2/His2 Type Zinc Finger Motif that Functions in Spermine-Signaling Pathway

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Abstract

We previously proposed that a spermine (Spm)-mediated signal transduction pathway is involved in the hypersensitive response induced by Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in tobacco plants. To identify regulatory component(s) of this pathway, we surveyed a tobacco cDNA library and found that the ZFT1 gene, which encodes a Cys2/His2 type zinc-finger protein, is Spm-responsive. ZFT1 was not induced by two other polyamines, putrescine and spermidine, or by salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid or ethylene. Furthermore, ZFT1 was upregulated in TMV- inoculated tobacco plants in an N gene-dependent manner. Notably, induction of ZFT1 by Spm and by TMV infection was unimpaired in NahG-transgenic tobacco plants, indicating that cross-talk with an SA signaling pathway is not involved in this response. Within the Spm-signaling pathway, we found that ZFT1 functioned downstream of both mitochondrial dysfunction and mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. The ZFT1 protein has two zinc finger motifs and shows a high degree of similarity to ZPT2-3 in petunia and SCOF1 in soybean. However, unlike the latter two proteins, ZFT1 binds to the EP1S sequence and functions as a transcription repressor. Moreover, interestingly, ZFT1 overexpression rendered tobacco plants more tolerant to TMV. Based on the results presented here, we propose that ZFT1 functions as a transcription repressor in a Spm signaling pathway, thereby accelerating necrotic local region formation in tobacco leaves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, 980-8577, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Yukiko Uehara, Yoshihiro Takahashi, Thomas Berberich, Atsushi Miyazaki & Tomonobu Kusano

  2. Botanisches Institut, Goethe-Universität, Postfach 11 19 32, D-60054, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Berberich

  3. Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori, 981-8555, Amamiyamachi, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

    Hideki Takahashi

  4. Gene Function Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Technology and Science (AIST), Central 4, 305-8562, Tsukuba, Japan

    Kyoko Matsui & Masaru Ohme-Takagi

  5. CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Japan

    Kyoko Matsui & Masaru Ohme-Takagi

  6. Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, 22-174-4 Narita, 024-0003, Kitakami, Iwate, Japan

    Hiromasa Saitoh & Ryohei Terauchi

  7. RIKEN Plant Science Center, 1-7-22 Suehiro-cho, 230-0045, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

    Yukiko Uehara

  8. Iwate Biotechnology Research Center, 22-174-4 Narita, 024-0003, Kitakami, Iwate, Japan

    Yoshihiro Takahashi & Thomas Berberich

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  1. Yukiko Uehara
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  2. Yoshihiro Takahashi
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  3. Thomas Berberich
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  4. Atsushi Miyazaki
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  5. Hideki Takahashi
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  6. Kyoko Matsui
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  7. Masaru Ohme-Takagi
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  8. Hiromasa Saitoh
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  9. Ryohei Terauchi
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  10. Tomonobu Kusano
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Correspondence to Tomonobu Kusano.

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Accession number: ZFT1 (AB186899)

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Uehara, Y., Takahashi, Y., Berberich, T. et al. Tobacco ZFT1, a Transcriptional Repressor with a Cys2/His2 Type Zinc Finger Motif that Functions in Spermine-Signaling Pathway. Plant Mol Biol 59, 435–448 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-005-0272-0

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