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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Overexpression of the MYB-related transcription factor GCC7 in Arabidopsis thaliana leads to increased levels of Pi and changed P-dependent gene regulation

Maria Lundmark A B , Lena Nilsson A B , Camilla J. Kørner A and Tom H. Nielsen A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Section for Plant Molecular Biology, VKR centre Pro-Active Plants, Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

B These authors contributed equally to the work.

C Corresponding author. Email: thni@life.ku.dk

Functional Plant Biology 38(2) 151-162 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP10081
Submitted: 13 April 2010  Accepted: 24 November 2010   Published: 1 February 2011

Abstract

A proper concentration and turnover of inorganic phosphate (Pi) is essential to maintain cellular processes. Consequently, plants have mechanisms to control Pi homeostasis and to alleviate Pi limitation. The MYB-related transcription factor, PHR1, is important for gene induction during Pi starvation. PHR1 belongs to a family, characterised by the presence of a GARP- and a coiled coil domain. We propose that this family, with 15 members in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh., be termed the GCC-family. In this study, transgenic plants overexpressing one member, GCC7, and a T-DNA knockout mutant, gcc7, are characterised. We find overexpressor plants to accumulate more Pi in shoots, irrespective of the Pi supply. Therefore, GCC7 was characterised in relation to Pi starvation. We conclude that GCC7 is not strictly required for a P-starvation response since the gcc7 mutant responds to Pi limitation. However, overexpression of GCC7 strongly interferes with the P-starvation response, abolishing induction of several P-responsive genes including AT4, IPS1 and several P-transporter genes, whereas GCC7 does not directly interfere with the PHR1 (GCC1) dependent regulation of miR399d. Thus GCC7 influences P-accumulation and P-dependent gene regulation, but GCC7 has a function entirely different from PHR1.

Additional keywords: gene regulation, nutrient depletion, phosphate transporters.


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