Abstract
Previously, we reported that the expression of a gene for soybean early light-induced protein (ELIP) was strongly induced by blue/UV-A light, and two cis-elements in the ELIP promoter, a GT-1-box-like sequence (GTGTGGACAA) and a G-box-like element (CCACGTGA), were necessary and sufficient for the blue/UV-A light-dependent expression of the gene. Here, we report a transcription factor that binds to these cis-elements. We determined the transcription start site in the ELIP promoter as C located 222 bp upstream of the start codon by primer-extension analysis. Also, we cloned a cDNA for soybean transcription factor GmGT-1 by PCR and expressed it in E.coli. The purified recombinant GmGT-1 tightly bound to the short sequence containing both GT-1 box and G box in the ELIP promoter, suggesting that GmGT-1 is involved in the blue/UV-A light-dependent expression of ELIP gene.
