Plant cells respond to low concentrations of auxin by cell expansion, and at a slightly higher concentration, these cells divide. Previous work revealed that null mutants of the ␣ -subunit of a putative heterotrimeric G protein ( GPA1 ) have reduced cell division. Here, we show that this prototypical G protein complex acts mechanistically by controlling auxin sensitivity toward cell division. Loss-of-function G protein mutants have altered auxin-mediated cell division throughout development, especially during the auxin-induced formation of lateral and adventitious root primordia. Ectopic expression of the wild-type G ␣ -subunit phenocopies the G ␤ mutants (auxin hypersensitivity), probably by sequestering the G ␤␥ -subunits, whereas overexpression of G ␤ reduces auxin sensitivity and a constitutively active (Q222L) mutant G ␣ behaves like the wild type. These data are consistent with a model in which G ␤␥ acts as a negative regulator of auxin-induced cell division. Accordingly, basal repression of approximately one-third of the identified auxin-regulated genes (47 of 150 upregulated genes among 8300 quantitated) is lost in the G ␤ transcript-null mutant. Included among these are genes that encode proteins proposed to control cell division in root primordia formation as well as several novel genes. These results suggest that although auxin-regulated cell division is not coupled directly by a G protein, the G ␤ -subunit attenuates this auxin pathway upstream of the control of mRNA steady state levels.

The heptahelical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) belong to the largest family of cell surface signaling receptors encoded in the human genome. GPCRs signal to diverse extracellular stimuli and control a vast number of physiological responses, making this receptor class the target of nearly half the drugs currently in use. In addition to rapid desensitization, receptor trafficking is crucial for the temporal and spatial control of GPCR signaling. Sorting signals present in the intracytosolic domains of GPCRs regulate trafficking through the endosomal-lysosomal system. GPCR internalization is mediated by serine and threonine phosphorylation and arrestin binding. Short, linear peptide sequences including tyrosine-and dileucine-based motifs, and PDZ ligands that are recognized by distinct endocytic adaptor proteins also mediate internalization and endosomal sorting of GPCRs. We present new data from bioinformatic searches that reveal the presence of these types of sorting signals in the cytoplasmic tails of many known GPCRs. Several recent studies also indicate that the covalent modification of GPCRs with ubiquitin serves as a signal for internalization and lysosomal sorting, expanding the diversity of mechanisms that control trafficking of mammalian GPCRs.

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the G protein beta gamma subunits are essential for pheromone signaling. The Galpha subunit Gpa1 can also promote signaling, but the effectors in this pathway are not well characterized. To identify candidate Gpa1 effectors, we expressed the constitutively active Gpa1(Q323L) mutant in each of nearly 5000 gene-deletion strains and measured mating-specific responses. Our analysis reveals a requirement for both the catalytic (Vps34) and regulatory (Vps15) subunits of the sole phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in yeast. We demonstrate that Gpa1 is present at endosomes, where it interacts directly with both Vps34 and Vps15 and stimulates increased production of phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate. Notably, Vps15 binds to GDP-bound Gpa1 and is predicted to have a seven-WD repeat structure similar to that of known G protein beta subunits. These findings reveal two new components of the pheromone signaling pathway. More remarkably, these proteins appear to comprise a preformed effector-G beta subunit assembly and function at the endosome rather than at the plasma membrane.

Heterotrimeric G-protein complexes couple extracellular signals via cell surface receptors to downstream enzymes called effectors. Heterotrimeric G-protein complexes, together with their cognate receptors and effectors, operate at the apex of signal transduction. In plants, the number of G-protein complex components is dramatically less than in other multicellular eukaryotes. An understanding of how multiple signals propagate transduction through the G-protein node can be found in the unique structural and kinetic properties of the plant heterotrimeric G-protein complex. This review addresses these unique features and speculates on why the repertoire of G-protein signaling elements is dramatically simpler than that in all other multicellular eukaryotes.

The rotavirus inner capsid particle, known as the "double-layered particle" (DLP), is the "payload" delivered into a cell in the process of viral infection. Its inner and outer protein layers, composed of VP2 and VP6, respectively, package the eleven segments of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) of the viral genome, as well as about the same number of polymerase molecules (VP1) and capping-enzyme molecules (VP3). We have determined the crystal structure of the bovine rotavirus DLP. There is one full particle (outer diameter ~700 Å) in the asymmetric unit of the P2 1 2 1 2 1 unit cell, of dimensions a= 740 Å, b= 1198 Å, c= 1345 Å. A three-dimensional reconstruction from electron cryomicroscopy was used as a molecular-replacement model for initial phase determination to about 18.5 Å resolution and the sixty-fold redundancy of the icosahedral particle symmetry allowed phases to be extended stepwise to the limiting resolution of the data (3.8 Å). The structure of a VP6 trimer (determined previously by others) fits the outerlayer density with very little adjustment. The T=13 triangulation number of that layer implies that there are four and one-third VP6 trimers per icosahedral asymmetric unit. The inner layer has 120 copies of VP2 and thus two per icosahedral asymmetric unit, designated VP2A and VP2B. Residues 101-880 fold into a relatively thin, principal domain, comma-like in outline, shaped such that only rather modest distortions (concentrated at two "subdomain" boundaries) allow VP2A and B to form a uniform layer with essentially no gaps at the subunit boundaries, except for a modest pore along the fivefold axis. The VP2 principal domain resembles those of the corresponding shells and homologous proteins in other dsRNA viruses: λ1 in orthoreoreoviruses, VP3 in orbiviruses. Residues 1-80 of VP2A and VP2B fold together with four other such pairs into a "fivefold hub" that projects into the DLP interior along the fivefold axis; residues 81-100 link the ten polypeptide chains emerging from a fivefold hub to the N-termini of their corresponding principal domains, clustered into a decameric assembly unit. The fivefold hub appears to have several distinct functions. One is to recruit a copy of VP1 (or of a VP1-VP3 complex), potentially along with a segment of (+)-strand RNA, as a decamer of VP2 assembles. A second is to serve as Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. NIH Public Access NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript a shaft around which can coil a segment of dsRNA. A third is to guide nascent mRNA, synthesized in the DLP int...