Abstract
E4, a ubiquitin (Ub) chain assembly factor and post-translational modification protein, plays a key role in the regulation of multiple cellular functions in plants during biotic or abiotic stress. We have more recently reported that E4 factor AtUAP1 is a negative regulator of the osmotic stress response and enhances the multi-Ub chain assembly of E3 ligase Arabidopsis thaliana RING Zinc Finger 1 (AtRZF1). To further investigate the function of other E4 Ub factors in osmotic stress, we isolated AtUAP2, an AtUAP1 homolog, which interacted with AtRZF1, using pull-down assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis. AtUAP2, a Ub-associated motif-containing protein, interacts with oligo-Ub5, -Ub6, and -Ub7 chains. The yeast functional complementation experiment revealed that AtUAP2 functions as an E4 Ub factor. In addition, AtUAP2 is localized in the cytoplasm, different from AtUAP1. The activity of AtUAP2 was relatively strongly induced in the leaf tissue of AtUAP2 promoter-β-glucuronidase transgenic plants by abscisic acid, dehydration, and oxidative stress. atuap2 RNAi lines were more insensitive to osmotic stress condition than wild-type during the early growth of seedlings, whereas the AtUAP2-overexpressing line exhibited relatively more sensitive responses. Analyses of molecular and physiological experiments showed that AtUAP2 could negatively mediate the osmotic stress-induced signaling. Genetic studies showed that AtRZF1 mutation could suppress the dehydration-induced sensitive phenotype of the AtUAP2-overexpressing line, suggesting that AtRZF1 acts genetically downstream of AtUAP2 during osmotic stress. Taken together, our findings show that the AtRZF1−AtUAP2 complex may play important roles in the ubiquitination pathway, which controls the osmotic stress response in Arabidopsis.
Key message
AtUAP2 has E4 ubiquitin activity, as judged by its assembly of oligo-ubiquitin chains. Genetically, AtUAP2 plays an intermediary role in regulating the osmotic stress response through the AtRZF1-dependent pathway.
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This work was supported by a National Research Foundation (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (Ministry of Science and ICT) (2021R1A2C1009748); and the New Breeding Technologies Development Program of the Rural Development Administration (Republic of Korea) (Grant number PJ01653303).
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Cho-Rong Park, Ji-Hee Min, Ying Gong, and Cheol Soo Kim designed the study and interpreted the study results. Hyunkyu Sang performed the yeast functional complement test. Kyeong-Hwan Lee provided technical assistance with GFP analysis. Cho-Rong Park, Ji-Hee Min, and Ying Gong interpreted and analyzed the experimental results. Cho-Rong Park, Ji-Hee Min, and Cheol Soo Kim wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Park, CR., Min, JH., Gong, Y. et al. Arabidopsis thaliana ubiquitin-associated protein 2 (AtUAP2) functions as an E4 ubiquitin factor and negatively modulates dehydration stress response. Plant Mol Biol 114, 13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-024-01419-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-024-01419-y