The human transcription factor Sp1 binds upstream of certain viral and cellular promoters and activates initiation of RNA synthesis from these promoters by RNA polymerase II. The Sp1 binding sites of both simian virus 40 and a related monkey promoter contain multiple copies of the sequence GGGCGG, three or four of these sequences forming close contacts with Spl. The clustered contacts fall on one strand of the DNA and are arranged similarly in the major groove of the DNA helix in both promoters.

Mitochondria (mt) in plants house about 20 group-II introns, which lie within protein-coding genes required in both organellar genome expression and respiration activities. While in nonplant systems the splicing of group-II introns is mediated by proteins encoded within the introns themselves (known as ''maturases''), only a single maturase ORF (matR) has retained in the mitochondrial genomes in plants; however, its putative role(s) in the splicing of organellar introns is yet to be established. Clues to other proteins are scarce, but these are likely encoded within the nucleus as there are no obvious candidates among the remaining ORFs within the mtDNA. Intriguingly, higher plants genomes contain four maturase-related genes, which exist in the nucleus as self-standing ORFs, out of the context of their evolutionary-related group-II introns ''hosts.'' These are all predicted to reside within mitochondria and may therefore act ''in-trans'' in the splicing of organellar-encoded introns. Here, we analyzed the intracellular locations of the four nuclear-encoded maturases in Arabidopsis and established the roles of one of these genes, At5g46920 (AtnMat2), in the splicing of several mitochondrial introns, including the single intron within cox2, nad1 intron2, and nad7 intron2.

The 21-base pair repeat elements of the SV40 promoter contain six tandem copies of the GGGCGG hexanucleotide (GC-box), each of which can bind, with varying affinity, to the cellular transcription factor, Sp1. In vitro SV40 early RNA synthesis is mediated by interaction of Sp1 with GC-boxes I, II, and III, whereas transcription in the late direction is mediated by binding to GC-boxes III, V, and VI.

The V2 protein of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (TYLCV) functions as an RNA-silencing suppressor that counteracts the innate immune response of the host plant. The host-cell target of V2, however, remains unknown. Here we show that V2 interacts directly with SlSGS3, the tomato homolog of the Arabidopsis SGS3 protein (AtSGS3), which is known to be involved in the RNA-silencing pathway. SlSGS3 genetically complemented an AtSGS3 mutation and restored RNA silencing, indicating that SlSGS3 is indeed a functional homolog of AtSGS3. A point mutant of V2 that is unable to bind SlSGS3 also lost its ability to suppress RNA silencing, suggesting a correlation between the V2–SlSGS3 interaction in planta and the suppressor activity of V2.

Chlorophyll is a central player in harvesting light energy for photosynthesis, yet the rate-limiting steps of chlorophyll catabolism and the regulation of the catabolic enzymes remain unresolved. To study the role and regulation of chlorophyllase (Chlase), the first enzyme of the chlorophyll catabolic pathway, we expressed precursor and mature versions of citrus (Citrus sinensis) Chlase in two heterologous plant systems: (1) squash (Cucurbita pepo) plants using a viral vector expression system; and (2) transiently transformed tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) protoplasts. Expression of full-length citrus Chlase resulted in limited chlorophyll breakdown in protoplasts and no visible leaf phenotype in whole plants, whereas expression of a Chlase version lacking the N-terminal 21 amino acids (ChlaseDN), which corresponds to the mature protein, led to extensive chlorophyll breakdown in both tobacco protoplasts and squash leaves. ChlaseDN-expressing squash leaves displayed a dramatic chlorotic phenotype in plants grown under low-intensity light, whereas under natural light a lesion-mimic phenotype occurred, which was demonstrated to follow the accumulation of chlorophyllide, a photodynamic chlorophyll breakdown product. Fulllength and mature citrus Chlase versions were localized to the chloroplast membrane fraction in expressing tobacco protoplasts, where processing of the N-terminal 21 amino acids appears to occur. Results obtained in both plant systems suggest that Chlase functions as a rate-limiting enzyme in chlorophyll catabolism controlled via posttranslational regulation.