High impact information on PLE

• Despite striking similarities between FAR and the class C MADS-box gene PLENA (PLE), the phenotypes of their respective mutants are dramatically different [1].
• Ala420 is a conserved amino acid in the AtMAP65 family and is mutated to Val in the cytokinesis-defective mutant pleiade-4 of the AtMAP65-3/PLEIADE gene [2].
• Here we present data that demonstrate an essential role for AtMAP65-3/PLE in cytokinesis in plant cells [3].
• In the ple mutants the anaphase spindle is normal, and the cytokinetic phragmoplast can form but is distorted; not only is it wider, but the midline, the region where oppositely oriented microtubules overlap, is unusually expanded [3].
• Most notably, the functional homologs AG from Arabidopsis and PLENA (PLE) from Antirrhinum are shown to be representatives of separate paralogous lineages rather than simple genetic orthologs [4].

Biological context of PLE

• The enhanced and synergistic phenotype of PLE/ple.hya/hya seedlings and double mutants point to a role of PLE and HYA in the same process [5].
• Two new loci, PLEIADE and HYADE, implicate organ-specific regulation of cytokinesis in Arabidopsis [5].
• Intron/exon structure is conserved in relation to AG and the Antirrhinum AG orthologue, PLENA (PLE), and low-stringency Southern analysis demonstrated the absence of additional genes in the poplar genome with significant PTAG1/2 homology [6].

Other interactions of PLE

• Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that they are clade members of the euAG and PLE lineages, respectively, and hence the two genes are named TrAG (Taihangia rupestris AGAMOUS) and TrSHP (Taihangia rupestris SHATTERPROOF) [7].

References