Compilation and characterization of histidine-containing phosphotransmitters implicated in His-to-Asp phosphorelay in plants: AHP signal transducers of Arabidopsis thaliana

Histidine (His)-to-Aspartate (Asp) phosphorelay signal transduction systems are generally made up of a "sensor histidine (His)-kinase", a "response re gulator", and a "histidine-containing phosphotransmitter (HPt)". In the hig her plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, results from recent intensive studies sugg ested that the His-to-Asp phosphorelay mechanism is at least partly respons ible for propagation of environmental stimuli, such as phytohormones (e.g. ethylene and cytokinin). Here we compiled the members of the HPt family of phosphotransmitters in Arabidopsis thaliana (AHP-series, Arabidopsis HPt ph osphotransmitters), based on both database and experimental analyses, in or der to provide a comprehensive basis at the molecular level for understandi ng the function of the AHP phosphotransmitters that are implicated in the H is-to-Asp phosphorelay of higher plants.