Specific domain structures control abscisic acid-, salicylic acid-, and stress-mediated SIZ1 phenotypes.

SIZ1 (for yeast SAP and MIZ1) encodes the sole ortholog of mammalian PIAS (for protein inhibitor of activated STAT) and yeast SIZ SUMO (for small ubiquitin-related modifier) E3 ligases in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Four conserved motifs in SIZ1 include SAP (for scaffold attachment factor A/B/acinus/PIAS domain), PINIT (for proline-isoleucine-asparagine-isoleucine-threonine), SP-RING (for SIZ/PIAS-RING), and SXS (for serine-X-serine, where X is any amino acid) motifs. SIZ1 contains, in addition, a PHD (for plant homeodomain) typical of plant PIAS proteins. We determined phenotypes of siz1-2 knockout mutants transformed with SIZ1 alleles carrying point mutations in the predicted domains. Domain SP-RING is required for SUMO conjugation activity and nuclear localization of SIZ1. Salicylic acid (SA) accumulation and SA-dependent phenotypes of siz1-2, such as diminished plant size, heightened innate immunity, and abscisic acid inhibition of cotyledon greening, as well as SA-independent basal thermotolerance were not complemented by the altered SP-RING allele of SIZ1. The SXS domain also controlled SA accumulation and was involved in greening and expansion of cotyledons of seedlings germinated in the presence of abscisic acid. Mutations of the PHD zinc finger domain and the PINIT motif affected in vivo SUMOylation. Expression of the PHD and/or PINIT domain mutant alleles of SIZ1 in siz1-2 promoted hypocotyl elongation in response to sugar and light. The various domains of SIZ1 make unique contributions to the plant's ability to cope with its environment.

Iron chelator-inducible expression system for Escherichia coli.

The PentC promoter of the entCEBA operon encoding enzymes for enterobactin biosynthesis in Escherichia coli is tightly regulated by the availability of iron in the culture medium. In iron-rich conditions, the PentC promoter activity is strongly repressed by the global transcription regulator Fur (ferric uptake regulator), which complexes with ferrous ions and binds to the Fur box 19-bp inverted repeat. In this study, we have constructed the expression vector pOS2 containing the PentC promoter and characterized its repression, induction, and modulation by quantifying the expression of the lacZ reporter gene encoding beta- galactosidase. Beta-galactosidase activities of E. coli transformants harboring pOS2-lacZ were highly induced in the presence of divalent metal ion chelators such as 2,2'-dipyridyl and EDTA, and were strongly repressed in the presence of excess iron. It was also shown that the basal level beta-galactosidase expression by the PentC promoter was drastically decreased by incorporating the fur gene into the expression vector. Since the newly developed iron chelator-inducible expression system is efficient and cost-effective, it has wide applications in recombinant protein production.