His-to-Asp (His-->Asp) phosphorelay mechanisms are presumably involved in propagation of certain environmental stimuli, including phytohormones, in Arabidopsis thaliana. In addition to the previously characterized His-kinases, namely, the ETR1 family of ethylene receptors, CKI1 cytokinin-sensor, and ATHK1 osomo-sensor, this higher plant has three more His-kinases (named AHK2, AHK3, and AHK4). By employing the well-known His-->Asp phosphorelay systems in both the fission yeast and Escherichia coli, evidence is presented showing that the AHK4 His-kinase has an ability to serve as a cytokinin-responsive environmental sensor. Taking advantage of this AHK4-dependent His-->Asp phosphorelay system in E. coli, a phosphorelay interaction between the Arabidopsis His-kinase and histidine-containing phosphotransmitters (AHPs) was also demonstrated for the first time.
Histidine-containing phosphotransfer (HPt) factors from Arabidopsis thaliana, designated as AHPs, function most likely in concert with histidine (His)-kinases (HKs) and response regulators (RRs) in certain multistep histidine (His)-->aspartate (Asp) phosphorelays that are involved in the signal transduction mechanisms, by which plant cells appear to respond to certain hormonal stimuli, including cytokinin. Although some previous in vitro results from studies on Arabidopsis AHPs (AHP1 to AHP5) supported this hypothesis, it has not yet been proven. To this end, here we constructed transgenic plants that contained the AHP2 protein in a considerably higher amount than in wild-type plants. Such AHP2-overexpressing young seedlings were examined in comparison with wild-type plants, with special reference to hormone responses; particularly, their inhibitory effects on root elongation of plants grown on agar-plates, and also hypocotyl elongation of etiolated seedlings grown in the dark. The results of this study suggested that AHP2-overexpressing plants showed a characteristic phenotype of cytokinin-hypersensitive. These in vivo observations were best interpreted by assuming that the AHP factor(s) is somehow implicated, if not directly, in a cytokinin-mediated His-->Asp phosphorelay signaling in Arabidopsis.
In Arabidopsis, three genes (AHK2, AHK3 and AHK4/CRE1) encode histidine kinases (His-kinases), which serve as cytokinin receptors. To understand how the external cytokinin signal activates the His-kinase across the cell membrane, we exploited the power of microbial genetics to isolate several AHK4 mutants that function independently of cytokinin in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic assay systems. In each mutant, a single amino acid substitution within the second membrane-spanning segment, or within the region around the phosphorylation His site, renders the His-kinase constitutively active. These mutant receptors appear to have a 'locked-on' conformation, even in the absence of stimulus. We discuss the implications of these data for the structure and function of the cytokinin receptor His-kinases in plants.
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