Disease relevance of PCL1

• Previously, we screened 50 000 seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana carrying a P(GI)::LUC+ bioluminescence reporter gene mutagenized with ethylmethanesulfonate for mutants with phenotypes of extensively altered circadian rhythms, and identified three loci, PHYTOCLOCK 1 (PCL1), PCL2 and PCL3, whose mutations cause arrhythmia [1].

High impact information on PCL1

• Mathematical modeling indicated that the modest change in peak LUX RNA abundance was sufficient to cause the period change due to FLC, providing a molecular target for the crosstalk between flowering time pathways and circadian regulation [2].
• The data are also consistent with LUX being necessary for activation of CCA1 and LHY expression [3].
• LUX ARRHYTHMO encodes a Myb domain protein essential for circadian rhythms [3].
• Therefore, the PCL1 gene is the clock oscillator gene essential to the generation of clock oscillation in the higher plant [1].
• Here we succeeded to clone the PCL1 gene and show that the PCL1 gene encodes a novel DNA binding protein belonging to the GARP protein family and is essential for a functional clock oscillator in A. thaliana [1].

References