Overexpression of the Arabidopsis anaphase promoting complex subunit CDC27a increases growth rate and organ size

• Published in: Plant molecular biology 2009-10, Vol.71 (3), p.307-318
• Main Authors: Rojas, Cristian Antonio, Eloy, Nubia Barbosa, de Freitas Lima, Marcelo, Rodrigues, Roberta Lopes, Franco, Luciana Ozório, Himanen, Kristiina, Beemster, Gerrit T. S, Hemerly, Adriana Silva, Ferreira, Paulo Cavalcanti Gomes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Blotting, Western; Cell cycle; Cell Cycle Proteins - genetics; Cell Cycle Proteins - metabolism; Cell Division; Cell Line; Cell Size; Flowers & plants; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - growth & development; Flowers - metabolism; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Immunoprecipitation; Life Sciences; Nicotiana - cytology; Nicotiana - genetics; Nicotiana - metabolism; Plant biology; Plant growth; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Leaves - growth & development; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant Pathology; Plant Sciences; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - growth & development; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Proteins; Protoplasts - cytology; Protoplasts - metabolism; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Studies; Thymidine - metabolism; Tritium - metabolism; Ubiquitination
• ISSN: 0167-4412; 1573-5028
• DOI: 10.1007/s11103-009-9525-7

The Anaphase Promoting Complex (APC) controls CDK activity by targeting the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis of S-phase and mitosis-promoting cyclins. Here, we report that the ectopic expression of the Arabidopsis CDC27a, an APC subunit, accelerates plant growth and results in plants with increased biomass production. CDC27a overexpression was associated to apical meristem restructuration, protoplasts with higher ³H-thimidine incorporation and altered cell-cycle marker expression. Total protein extracts immunoprecipitated with a CDC27a antibody showed ubiquitin ligase activity, indicating that the Arabidopsis CDC27a gets incorporated into APC complexes. These results indicate a role of AtCDC27a in regulation of plant growth and raise the possibility that the activity of the APC and the rates of plant cell division could be regulated by the concentration of the CDC27a subunit.