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MSc Exit Seminar – Catalina Leoveanu (Nambara lab)
September 23, 2015 @ 2:10 pm - 2:40 pm
MSc Exit Seminar
Wednesday September 23rd, 2:10 pm – Earth Sciences Centre, Rm. 3087
Catalina Leoveanu (Nambara lab)
“The Investigation of Novel Functions of Abscisic Acid 2 Through Protein-Protein Interactions”
Abstract
Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone that plays a regulatory role in the water stress response, as well as the maintenance of seed dormancy and the mitigation of other abiotic stresses. ABA2 is the enzyme that catalyzes the second-last step in ABA biosynthesis, converting xanthoxin to abscisic aldehyde. The recent discovery of ABA2 nuclear localization and its unique expression pattern may point to a previously uncharacterized function of this enzyme. In order to elucidate novel roles, we analyzed interaction partners using yeast 2 hybrid (Y2H) and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) assays. HAI1, a Protein Phosphatase Type 2 C (PP2C), was found to interact with ABA2, in addition to other members of this family, including ABA-hypersensitive germination 1 (AHG1) and hypersensitive to ABA1 (HAB1). These proteins are members of the core ABA signaling complex and act as negative regulators of ABA-induced gene expression. Preliminary evidence suggests that ABA2 acts through HAI1, and likely other members of the PP2C family, to enhance ABA signaling.