The RING Finger Protein NtRCP1 Is Involved in the Floral Transition in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). Issue 6 (20th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Hai-Yun; Yu, Yi; Sun, Yong-Duo; Han, Li-Bo; Wu, Xiao-Min; Wu, Jia-He; Xia, Gui-Xian; Liu, Guo-Qin
• Is Part Of: Journal of genetics and genomics. Volume 42:Issue 6(2015:Jun.)
• Page Start: 311
• Page End: 317
• Publication Date: 2015-06-20
• Subjects: Genetics -- Periodicals; Genomics -- Periodicals; 576.505
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2015.03.010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1673-8527

Abstract

<abstract xml:lang="en" abstract-type="author" id="abs0010"> <title id="sectitle0010">Abstract</title> <sec> <p id="abspara0010">The transition from the vegetative phase to the reproductive phase is a major developmental process in flowering plants. The underlying mechanism controlling this cellular process remains a research focus in the field of plant molecular biology. In the present work, we identified a gene encoding the C3H2C3-type RING finger protein NtRCP1 from tobacco BY-2 cells. Enzymatic analysis demonstrated that NtRCP1 is a functional E3 ubiquitin ligase. In tobacco plants, expression level of <italic>NtRCP1</italic> was higher in the reproductive shoot apices than in the vegetative ones. <italic>NtRCP1</italic>-overexpressing plants underwent a more rapid transition from the vegetative to the reproductive phase and flowered markedly earlier than the wild-type control. Histological analysis revealed that the shoot apical meristem of <italic>NtRCP1</italic>-overexpressing plants initiated inflorescence primordia precociously compared to the wild-type plant due to accelerated cell division. Overexpression of <italic>NtRCP1</italic> in BY-2 suspension cells promoted cell division, which was a consequence of the shortened G2 phase in the cell cycle. Together, our data suggest that NtRCP1 may act as a regulator of the phase transition, possibly through its role in cell cycle regulation, during vegetative/reproductive development in tobacco plant.</p> </sec> </abstract>