Abstract
Cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are evolutionally conserved key regulators of the cell cycle. CDK activities are regulated by phosphorylation and binding of regulatory cyclin subunits. During the past decade, it has been shown that the posttranslational regulations of CDKs are well conserved among distantly related eukaryotes. On the contrary, little is known about transcriptional regulations of CDKs during post-embryonic development of plants.
Plants have six types of CDK, among which CDKA and CDKB play a key role in the cell cycle. The transcription of CDKB is under strict cell cycle control, and we have recently demonstrated that CDKB2 is regulated by proteolysis. The transcription of CDKA is not cell cycle phase-dependent, but it would be under developmental control to coordinate cell division and differentiation. In order to have insight into the transcriptional regulation of CDKA in planta, we have dissected the promoter region of Arabidopsis CDKA;1 and analyzed expression patterns.
