F. Regad et al., THE TEF1 BOX, A UBIQUITOUS CIS-ACTING ELEMENT INVOLVED IN THE ACTIVATION OF PLANT GENES THAT ARE HIGHLY EXPRESSED IN CYCLING CELLS, MGG. Molecular & general genetics, 248(6), 1995, pp. 703-711
In Arabidopsis thaliana, the tef1 box is a cis-acting promoter element
of the EF-1 alpha A1 gene involved in the activation of transcription
in meristematic tissues. The initiation of root calli in transgenic A
rabidopsis by 2,4-D shows that the tef1-dependent expression of the GU
S reporter gene is not restricted to meristematic regions but involves
all of the cycling cells. Hybridization experiments conducted using A
rabidopsis cDNA clones organized in a dense array on filters, and cDNA
probes prepared from cells in various states of growth, or blocked at
different steps of the cell cycle, indicate that the enhanced express
ion of EF-1 alpha genes occurs in cycling cells at the point of entry
into the cell cycle and remains constant during transit through the cy
cle. The analysis of several promoters of genes, other than EF-1 alpha
, which are overexpressed in growing cells and involved in the process
es of translation or redox regulation, reveals the presence of sequenc
es showing partial homologies with the tef1 box. The Arabidopsis ribos
omal gene srp18 and the tobacco gene thioh2, encoding a thioredoxin h,
contain such sequences. Gel retardation experiments suggest that thes
e sequences are targets for the same proteins as those that interact w
ith the tef1 box of the Arabidopsis EF-1 alpha A1 gene. In transfected
Arabidopsis protoplasts, the putative tef1 sequence thioh2 partially
restores the activity of a tef1 box-less EF-1 alpha A1 promoter. These
data demonstrate that the tef1 box is a ubiquitous cis-acting element
involved in the transcriptional activation of plant genes that are ov
erexpressed in cycling cells. The deduced consensus sequence of the te
f1 box is arGGRYAnnnnnGTaa. The key role that this regulatory element
may play in the cell cycle, by pleiotropic control of the expression o
f genes encoding components of the translational apparatus or involved
in regulating the redox state of the cell is discussed.