First published online August 24, 2007; 10.1105/tpc.107.053330
The Plant Cell 19:2662-2673 (2007)
© 2007 American Society of Plant Biologists
UV-B Promotes Rapid Nuclear Translocation of the Arabidopsis UV-B–Specific Signaling Component UVR8 and Activates Its Function in the Nucleus
Eirini Kaiserli and
Gareth I. Jenkins1
Plant Science Group, Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
1 Address correspondence to g.jenkins{at}bio.gla.ac.uk.
Arabidopsis thaliana UV RESISTANCE LOCUS8 (UVR8) is a UV-B–specific signaling component that binds to chromatin and regulates UV protection by orchestrating expression of a range of genes. Here, we studied how UV-B regulates UVR8. We show that UV-B stimulates the nuclear accumulation of both a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-UVR8 fusion and native UVR8. Nuclear accumulation leads to UV-B induction of the HY5 gene, encoding a key transcriptional effector of the UVR8 pathway. Nuclear accumulation of UVR8 is specific to UV-B, occurs at low fluence rates, and is observed within 5 min of UV-B exposure. Attachment of a nuclear export signal (NES) to GFP-UVR8 causes cytosolic localization in the absence of UV-B. However, UV-B promotes rapid nuclear accumulation of NES-GFP-UVR8, indicating a concerted mechanism for nuclear translocation. UVR8 lacking the N-terminal 23 amino acids is impaired in nuclear translocation. Attachment of a nuclear localization signal (NLS) to UVR8 causes constitutive nuclear localization. However, NLS-GFP-UVR8 only confers HY5 gene expression following UV-B illumination, indicating that nuclear localization, although necessary for UVR8 function, is insufficient to cause expression of target genes; UV-B is additionally required to stimulate UVR8 function in the nucleus. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms through which UV-B regulates gene expression in plants.
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