Abstract
To investigate the tolerance mechanisms to high boron, we identified Arabidopsis thaliana genes that confer boric acid tolerance to yeast. Among the identified genes, AtRBP47c' was analyzed in this study. AtRBP47c' encodes a splicing enhancer which has three RRM (RNA recognition motif). Recently, RRM is reported to interact not only with RNAs but also with proteins. Hence, we searched a protein which interact with AtRBP47c' among yeast splicing factors. By using a two-hybrid assay, we identified MUD2 as a potential AtRBP47c'-interacting protein. Over-expression of AtRBP47c' could not increase boric acid tolerance in Δmud2 mutant, indicating that MUD2 is necessary for AtRBP47c' to confer boric acid tolerance to yeast. Furthermore, over-expression of AtRBP47c' ameliorated splicing inhibition of several genes under high boric acid condition. These results suggest that AtRBP47c' confers boric acid tolerance to yeast by enhancement of splicing efficiency through interaction with MUD2.
