Abstract
VOZ (Vascular plant One Zinc-finger protein) family is a one-zinc finger type DNA binding protein, which is highly conserved among land plants. Genetic analyses on two Arabidopsis VOZs(AtVOZ1/2) have revealed that AtVOZs are involved in flowering and cold response. However, details of AtVOZs as transcription factor remain largely unclear. In this work, we report that AtVOZs specifically interact with a transcriptional co-activator MBF1 (Multiprotein Binding Factor 1). Out of three Arabidopsis MBF1s (AtMBF1a,b,c), only AtMBF1b interacted with AtVOZ1 and AtVOZ2 in Y2H and in vitro pull down assay. Promoter-GUS reporter analysis revealed that AtVOZs and AtMBF1b co-expressed in vascular tissues. Furthermore, taken together with flowering time and freezing tolerance phenotypes in AtVOZs and AtMBF1b mutants, we will discuss molecular roles of AtVOZs and AtMBF1b in transcriptional regulation.
