Subcellular Localization of AS1 and AS2 Proteins that Regulate Leaf Development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

AS1 and AS2 regulate development of leaf and floral organs and repress the expression of class 1 knox genes in their organs. AS1 and AS2 encode a myb-like protein and a protein with the AS2/LOB domain, respectively. To understand the molecular mechanisms in which AS1 and AS2 are involved, we examined subcelluler localization of GFP-AS1 and AS2-YFP in Arabidopsis cells. The fluorescence of AS2-YFP was detected as a few dots or bars at the periphery of the nucleolus. The fluorescence of GFP-AS1 was observed as dots in the nucleus. In addition, when AS2-YFP and GFP-AS1 were expressed in the same cells, GFP-AS1 was colocalized with AS2-YFP at the periphery of the nucleolus. It might be possible that AS2 functions with AS1 at the periphery of the nucleolus.