Transcript NAC Protein Family

NAC Protein Family
Yosuke Ishida
Yuya Hirai
Timothy Schultz
Ria Yagnik
General Info
Three different genes
• NAM (no apical meristem)
• ATAF (Arabidopsis transcription activation factor)
• CUC (cup-shaped cotyledon)
have conserved domain
=NAC domain(from first letters of each genes )
Structural Characteristics
5’UTR exon
intron
exon
NAC domain
intron
exon 3’UTR
TAR
(transcription activation region)
ATAF1 gene
General Info (con’t)
NAC proteins are thought to be involved in
developmental processes:
• Formation of shoot apical meristem (SAM)
• Floral organs
• Lateral shoots
• Plant hormonal control/defense mechanisms
• Programmed cell death
Bio-informatics analysis
• Arabisopsis Thaliana has 135 NAC coding
genes.
• Plant specific
NAC Family Tree
NAC family -->
NAM Sub-Family
• How NAM Works
• “The Domino Effect”
• Consider the Family
What is the “Apical Meristem”
• Def: Stem-cell tissue
at the tip of the shoot or
root that divides, and is
responsible for
increasing the plant’s
length.
Shoot AM -->
Root AM -->
CUC - Cup Shaped Cotyledon
• CUC function
– Required for boundary
formation in
Arabidopsis
– Loss of protein results
in fusion of young
leaves - they do not
differentiate
CUC - Cup Shaped Cotyledon
• Different types
of CUC (CUC1,
CUC2, etc)
proteins result in
different levels
of differentiation
The Big Picture
• NAC family proteins contain a large number
of genes(135) that code for extremely
important in plant development
• Due to their natural redundancy,
however, it is difficult to find a single
knockout that causes a significant
phenotypic mutation