cDNA Library Screening Identifies Protein Interactors Potentially Involved in Non-Telomeric Roles of Arabidopsis Telomerase
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Frontiers in Plant Science |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2015.00985/full |
| Doi | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2015.00985 |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | telomerase; nuclear poly(A)-binding protein; telobox; metallothionein 2A; MODIFIER OF snc1; putative nuclear DNA-binding protein G2p; oxidation-related zinc finger 2 protein; BiFC |
| Description | Telomerase-reverse transcriptase (TERT) plays an essential catalytic role in maintaining telomeres. However, in animal systems telomerase plays additional non-telomeric functional roles. We previously screened an Arabidopsis cDNA library for proteins that interact with the C-terminal extension (CTE) TERT domain and identified a nuclearlocalized protein that contains an RNA recognition motif (RRM). This RRM-protein forms homodimers in both plants and yeast. Mutation of the gene encoding the RRM-protein had no detectable effect on plant growth and development, nor did it affect telomerase activity or telomere length in vivo, suggesting a non-telomeric role for TERT/RRM-protein complexes. The gene encoding the RRM-protein is highly expressed in leaf and reproductive tissues. We further screened an Arabidopsis cDNA library for proteins that interact with the RRM-protein and identified five interactors. These proteins are involved in numerous non-telomere-associated cellular activities. In plants, the RRM-protein, both alone and in a complex with its interactors, localizes to nuclear speckles. Transcriptional analyses in wild-type and rrm mutant plants, as well as transcriptional co-analyses, suggest that TERT, the RRM-protein, and the RRM-protein interactors may play important roles in non-telomeric cellular functions. |
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