The Arabidopsis RING-Type E3 Ligase TEAR1 Controls Leaf Development by Targeting the TIE1 Transcriptional Repressor for Degradation.

The developmental plasticity of leaf size and shape is important for leaf function and plant survival. However, the mechanisms by which plants form diverse leaves in response to environmental conditions are not well understood. Here, we identified TIE1-ASSOCIATED RING-TYPE E3 LIGASE1 (TEAR1) and found that it regulates leaf development by promoting the degradation of TCP INTERACTOR-CONTAINING EAR MOTIF PROTEIN1 (TIE1), an important repressor of CINCINNATA (CIN)-like TEOSINTE BRANCHED1/CYCLOIDEA/PCF (TCP) transcription factors, which are key for leaf development. TEAR1 contains a typical C3H2C3-type RING domain and has E3 ligase activity. We show that TEAR1 interacts with the TCP repressor TIE1, which is ubiquitinated in vivo and degraded by the 26S proteasome system. We demonstrate that TEAR1 is colocalized with TIE1 in nuclei and negatively regulates TIE1 protein levels. Overexpression of TEAR1 rescued leaf defects caused by TIE1 overexpression, whereas disruption of TEAR1 resulted in leaf phenotypes resembling those caused by TIE1 overexpression or TCP dysfunction. Deficiency in TEAR partially rescued the leaf defects of TCP4 overexpression line and enhanced the wavy leaf phenotypes of jaw-5D We propose that TEAR1 positively regulates CIN-like TCP activity to promote leaf development by mediating the degradation of the TCP repressor TIE1.

Temporal coupling of field potentials and action potentials in the neocortex.

The local field potential (LFP) is an aggregate measure of group neuronal activity and is often correlated with the action potentials of single neurons. In recent years, investigators have found that action potential firing rates increase during elevations in power high-frequency band oscillations (50-200 Hz range). However, action potentials also contribute to the LFP signal itself, making the spike-LFP relationship complex. Here, we examine the relationship between spike rates and LFP in varying frequency bands in rat neocortical recordings. We find that 50-180 Hz oscillations correlate most consistently with high firing rates, but that other LFP bands also carry information relating to spiking, including in some cases anti-correlations. Relatedly, we find that spiking itself and electromyographic activity contribute to LFP power in these bands. The relationship between spike rates and LFP power varies between brain states and between individual cells. Finally, we create an improved oscillation-based predictor of action potential activity by specifically utilizing information from across the entire recorded frequency spectrum of LFP. The findings illustrate both caveats and improvements to be taken into account in attempts to infer spiking activity from LFP.

The molecular mechanism of sporocyteless/nozzle in controlling Arabidopsis ovule development.

Ovules are essential for plant reproduction and develop into seeds after fertilization. Sporocyteless/nozzle (SPL/NZZ) has been known for more than 15 years as an essential factor for ovule development in Arabidopsis, but the biochemical nature of SPL function has remained unsolved. Here, we demonstrate that SPL functions as an adaptor-like transcriptional repressor. We show that SPL recruits topless/topless-related (TPL/TPR) co-repressors to inhibit the Cincinnata (CIN)-like Teosinte branched1/cycloidea/PCF (TCP) transcription factors. We reveal that SPL uses its EAR motif at the C-terminal end to recruit TPL/TPRs and its N-terminal part to bind and inhibit the TCPs. We demonstrate that either disruption of TPL/TPRs or overexpression of TCPs partially phenocopies the defects of megasporogenesis in spl. Moreover, disruption of TCPs causes phenotypes that resemble spl-D gain-of-function mutants. These results define the action mechanism for SPL, which along with TPL/TPRs controls ovule development by repressing the activities of key transcription factors. Our findings suggest that a similar gene repression strategy is employed by both plants and fungi to control sporogenesis.