Phosphorylation-coupled proteolysis of the transcription factor MYC2 is important for jasmonate-signaled plant immunity

As a master regulator of jasmonic acid (JA)-signaled plant immune responses, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) Leu zipper transcription factor MYC2 differentially regulates different subsets of JA-responsive genes through distinct mechanisms. However, how MYC2 itself is regulated at the protein leve...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS genetics 2013-04, Vol.9 (4), p.e1003422-e1003422
Main Authors: Zhai, Qingzhe, Yan, Liuhua, Tan, Dan, Chen, Rong, Sun, Jiaqiang, Gao, Liyan, Dong, Meng-Qiu, Wang, Yingchun, Li, Chuanyou
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Motifs - genetics
Arabidopsis - genetics
Arabidopsis - growth & development
Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics
Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism
Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - genetics
Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - metabolism
Biology
Cyclopentanes - metabolism
Experiments
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Genes
Genetic aspects
Genomes
Health aspects
Jasmonates
Life sciences
Oxylipins - metabolism
Phosphorylation
Physiological aspects
Plant defenses
Plant Immunity - genetics
Proteins
Proteolysis
Rodents
Signal transduction
Transcription factors
Transcription, Genetic - genetics
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Summary:As a master regulator of jasmonic acid (JA)-signaled plant immune responses, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) Leu zipper transcription factor MYC2 differentially regulates different subsets of JA-responsive genes through distinct mechanisms. However, how MYC2 itself is regulated at the protein level remains unknown. Here, we show that proteolysis of MYC2 plays a positive role in regulating the transcription of its target genes. We discovered a 12-amino-acid element in the transcription activation domain (TAD) of MYC2 that is required for both the proteolysis and the transcriptional activity of MYC2. Interestingly, MYC2 phosphorylation at residue Thr328, which facilitates its turnover, is also required for the MYC2 function to regulate gene transcription. Together, these results reveal that phosphorylation-coupled turnover of MYC2 stimulates its transcription activity. Our results exemplify that, as with animals, plants employ an "activation by destruction" mechanism to fine-tune their transcriptome to adapt to their ever-changing environment.
ISSN:1553-7404
1553-7390
1553-7404
DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1003422