The CCT (for CONSTANS, CONSTANS-LIKE, TOC1) domain is found in 45 Arabidopsis thaliana proteins involved in processes such as photoperiodic flowering, light signaling, and regulation of circadian rhythms. We show that this domain exhibits similarities to yeast HEME ACTIVATOR PROTEIN2 (HAP2), which is a subunit of the HAP2/HAP3/HAP5 trimeric complex that binds to CCAAT boxes in eukaryotic promoters. Moreover, we demonstrate that CONSTANS (CO), which promotes Arabidopsis flowering, interacts with At HAP3 and At HAP5 in yeast, in vitro, and in planta. Mutations in CO that delay flowering affect residues highly conserved between CCT and the DNA binding domain of HAP2. Taken together, these data suggest that CO might replace At HAP2 in the HAP complex to form a trimeric CO/At HAP3/At HAP5 complex. Flowering was delayed by overexpression of At HAP2 or At HAP3 throughout the plant or in phloem companion cells, where CO is expressed. This phenotype was correlated with reduced abundance of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) mRNA and no change in CO mRNA levels. At HAP2 or At HAP3 overexpression may therefore impair formation of a CO/At HAP3/At HAP5 complex leading to reduced expression of FT. During plant evolution, the number of genes encoding HAP proteins was greatly amplified, and these proteins may have acquired novel functions, such as mediating the effect of CCT domain proteins on gene expression.

The transcriptional regulator CONSTANS (CO) promotes flowering of Arabidopsis under long summer days (LDs) but not under short winter days (SDs). Post-translational regulation of CO is crucial for this response by stabilizing the protein at the end of a LD, whereas promoting its degradation throughout the night under LD and SD. We show that mutations in CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1), a component of a ubiquitin ligase, cause extreme early flowering under SDs, and that this is largely dependent on CO activity. Furthermore, transcription of the CO target gene FT is increased in cop1 mutants and decreased in plants overexpressing COP1 in phloem companion cells. COP1 and CO interact in vivo and in vitro through the C-terminal region of CO. COP1 promotes CO degradation mainly in the dark, so that in cop1 mutants CO protein but not CO mRNA abundance is dramatically increased during the night. However, in the morning CO degradation occurs independently of COP1 by a phytochrome B-dependent mechanism. Thus, COP1 contributes to day length perception by reducing the abundance of CO during the night and thereby delaying flowering under SDs.

The four-member SPA protein family of Arabidopsis acts in concert with the E3 ubiquitin ligase COP1 to suppress photomorphogenesis in dark-grown seedlings. Here, we demonstrate that SPA proteins are, moreover, essential for photoperiodic flowering. Mutations in SPA1 cause phyA-independent early flowering under short day (SD) but not long day (LD) conditions, and this phenotype is enhanced by additional loss of SPA3 and SPA4 function. These spa1 spa3 spa4 triple mutants flower at the same time in LD and SD, indicating that the SPA gene family is essential for the inhibition of flowering under non-inductive SD. Among the four SPA genes, SPA1 is necessary and sufficient for normal photoperiodic flowering. Early flowering of SD-grown spa mutant correlates with strongly increased FT transcript levels, whereas COtranscript levels are not altered. Epistasis analysis demonstrates that both early flowering and FT induction in spa1 mutants is fully dependent on CO. Consistent with this finding, SPA proteins interact physically with CO in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that SPA proteins regulate CO protein function. Domain mapping shows that the SPA1-CO interaction requires the CCT-domain of CO, but is independent of the B-box type Zn fingers of CO. We further show that spa1 spa3 spa4 mutants exhibit strongly increased CO protein levels, which are not caused by a change in COgene expression. Taken together, our results suggest, that SPA proteins regulate photoperiodic flowering by controlling the stability of the floral inducer CO.

The Arabidopsis thaliana REVOLUTA (REV) protein is a member of the class III homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-ZIPIII) proteins. REV is a potent regulator of leaf polarity and vascular development. Here, we report the identification of a gene family that encodes small leucine zipper-containing proteins (LITTLE ZIPPER [ZPR] proteins) where the leucine zipper is similar to that found in REV, PHABULOSA, and PHAVOLUTA proteins. The transcript levels of the ZPR genes increase in response to activation of a steroid-inducible REV protein. We show that the ZPR proteins interact with REV in vitro and that ZPR3 prevents DNA binding by REV in vitro. Overexpression of ZPR proteins in Arabidopsis results in phenotypes similar to those seen when HD-ZIPIII function is reduced. We propose a negative feedback model in which REV promotes transcription of the ZPR genes. The ZPR proteins in turn form heterodimers with the REV protein, preventing it from binding DNA. The HD-ZIPIII/ZPR regulatory module would serve not only to dampen the effect of fluctuations in HD-ZIPIII protein levels but more importantly would provide a potential point of regulation (control over the ratio of inactive heterodimers to active homodimers) that could be influenced by other components of the pathway governing leaf polarity.

SUMMARYUnlike the situation in animals, the final morphology of the plant body is highly modulated by the environment. During Arabidopsis development, intrinsic factors provide the framework for basic patterning processes. CLASS III HOMEODOMAIN LEUCINE ZIPPER (HD-ZIPIII) transcription factors are involved in embryo, shoot and root patterning. During vegetative growth HD-ZIPIII proteins control several polarity set-up processes such as in leaves and the vascular system. We have identified several direct target genes of the HD-ZIPIII transcription factor REVOLUTA (REV) using a chromatin immunoprecipitation/DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq) approach. This analysis revealed that REV acts upstream of auxin biosynthesis and affects directly the expression of several class II HD-ZIP transcription factors that have been shown to act in the shadeavoidance response pathway. We show that, as well as involvement in basic patterning, HD-ZIPIII transcription factors have a critical role in the control of the elongation growth that is induced when plants experience shade. Leaf polarity is established by the opposed actions of HD-ZIPIII and KANADI transcription factors. Finally, our study reveals that the module that consists of HD-ZIPIII/KANADI transcription factors controls shade growth antagonistically and that this antagonism is manifested in the opposed regulation of shared target genes.