Phosphorylation-Regulated Cleavage of ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE2 Mediates Hormone Signaling from the Endoplasmic Reticulum to the Nucleus

ABSTRACT: Ethylene gas is essential for many developmental processes and stress responses in plants. ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE2 (EIN2), an NRAMP-homologous integral membrane protein, plays an essential role in ethylene signaling but its function remains enigmatic. Here we report that phosphorylation-regulated proteolytic processing of EIN2 triggers its endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-nucleus translocation, which is essential for hormone signaling and response in Arabidopsis. Without ethylene, or in hormone receptors mutants, ER-tethered EIN2 shows CTR1 kinase-dependent phosphorylation. Ethylene exposure triggers dephosphorylation and proteolytic cleavage, resulting in rapid nuclear translocation of a carboxyl-terminal EIN2 fragment (C’). Plants containing mutations that mimic EIN2 dephosphorylation, or inactivate CTR1, show constitutive cleavage and nuclear localization of EIN2-C’, and EIN3/EIL1-dependent activation of ethylene responses. These findings uncover a mechanism of subcellular communication whereby ethylene gas stimulates rapid phosphorylation-dependent cleavage and nuclear movement of the EIN2-C’ peptide, thus linking hormone perception and signaling components located in the ER with nuclear-localized transcriptional regulators.

INSTRUMENT(S): Illumina Genome Analyzer IIx

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

SUBMITTER: Joseph Ecker 

PROVIDER: E-MTAB-4360 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress