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Mutations that reduce the expression of ribosomal proteins (RPs) or limit the activity of ribosome biogenesis-related factors frequently cause physiological and morphological changes in Arabidopsis. Arabidopsis OLI2/NOP2A, a homolog of yeast Nop2, encodes a nucleolar methyltransferase that is required for the maturation of the 25S ribosomal RNA of the 60S large ribosomal subunit. Mutant oli2 plants exhibit pointed leaves and shortened primary roots. In this study, detailed phenotypic analysis of oli2 mutant and OLI2 overexpressor lines revealed a range of phenotypes. Seeds produced by oli2 mutant and OLI2 overexpressor plants were lighter and heavier than wild-type seeds, respectively. Seeds of the oli2 mutant also showed delayed germination, whereas seeds from the OLI2 overexpressor lines germinated earlier than the wild type. The oli2 mutant also had fewer and shorter lateral roots than the wild type. The lateral root development phenotype in the oli2 mutant was similar to that of auxin-related mutants, but was not enhanced by exogenously supplied auxin. Furthermore, the oli2 mutant and OLI2 overexpressor lines were hypersensitive and less sensitive to high concentrations of sugar, respectively. Split-GFP-based bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis revealed that OLI2 interacted with a nucleolar protein, BRX1-2, which is involved in rRNA processing for the large ribosomal subunit. Moreover, overexpression of OLI2 and BRX1-2 caused similar morphological changes, including extension of plant lifespans. These results suggest that the functions of OLI2 and its interactor BRX1-2 are intimately associated with a range of developmental events in Arabidopsis.

ATL31, an Arabidopsis RING-type ubiquitin ligase, plays a critical role in plant carbon/nitrogen (C/N)-nutrient responses during post-germinative growth and in defense responses to pathogen attack. ATL31 expression under these stress conditions suggested the presence of transcriptional regulators mediated by these stress signals. We recently reported that the expression pattern of WRKY33, a transcription factor involved in plant defense responses, is highly correlated with that of ATL31. In this study, we investigated the detailed relationship between the ATL31 gene and WRKY33. Using transient reporter analysis, we found that WRKY33 could significantly activate ATL31 transcription in plant cells. Transcript analysis of stable transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing WRKY33 confirmed that the expression of ATL31 in response to the PAMPs flg22 and chitin was enhanced compared with wild-type plants, while expression was repressed in wrky33 mutants. Further detailed transient reporter analysis revealed that transactivation by WRKY33 is required and mediated through a specific W-box cis-acting element in the promoter region of the ATL31 gene. In contrast, WRKY33 did not regulate ATL31 expression during the C/N response. Taken together, these results demonstrate that WRKY33 acts as a transcription factor of ATL31 and positively regulates its expression during activation of plant defense responses.

e ubiquitin/26S proteasome system (UPS) plays a central role in the degradation of short-lived regulatory proteins that control many cellular events. In this study, the Arabidopsis knockout mutant rpt2a, which contains a defect in the AtRPT2a subunit of the 26S proteasome regulatory particle, showed hypersensitivity to sugars as well as enlarged leaves. When the role of RPT2a in sugar response was examined in further detail it was found that putatively only the AtRPT2a gene of 19S proteasome was markedly transcriptionally promoted by sugar application. Notably, poly-ubiquitinated proteins degraded by the UPS accumulated signi cantly in rpt2a mutant under 6% sucrose conditions compared to wild type. In addition, the AtRPT2a gene in gin2, a glucose insensitive mutant with a defective glucose-sensing hexokinase, was not upregulated by sugar application, indicating that AtRPT2a is involved in hexokinase-dependent sugar response. Taken together, the above ndings indicate that AtRPT2a plays an essential role in the maintenance of proteasome-dependent proteolysis activity in response to sugars.