The IBR5 phosphatase promotes Arabidopsis auxin responses through a novel mechanism distinct from TIR1-mediated repressor degradation
2008
Bartel Bonnie | Monroe-Augustus Melanie | Strader Lucia C
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Arabidopsis, INDOLE-3-BUTYRIC ACID RESPONSE5 (IBR5), a putative dual-specificity protein phosphatase, is a positive regulator of auxin response. Mutations in <it>IBR5 </it>result in decreased plant height, defective vascular development, increased leaf serration, fewer lateral roots, and resistance to the phytohormones auxin and abscisic acid. However, the pathways through which IBR5 influences auxin responses are not fully understood.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We analyzed double mutants of <it>ibr5 </it>with other mutants that dampen auxin responses and found that combining <it>ibr5 </it>with an auxin receptor mutant, <it>tir1</it>, enhanced auxin resistance relative to either parent. Like other auxin-response mutants, auxin-responsive reporter accumulation was reduced in <it>ibr5</it>. Unlike other auxin-resistant mutants, the Aux/IAA repressor reporter protein AXR3NT-GUS was not stabilized in <it>ibr5</it>. Similarly, the Aux/IAA repressor IAA28 was less abundant in <it>ibr5 </it>than in wild type. <it>ibr5 </it>defects were not fully rescued by overexpression of a mutant form of IBR5 lacking the catalytic cysteine residue.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our genetic and molecular evidence suggests that IBR5 is a phosphatase that promotes auxin responses, including auxin-inducible transcription, differently than the TIR1 auxin receptor and without destabilizing Aux/IAA repressor proteins. Our data are consistent with the possibility that auxin-responsive transcription can be modulated downstream of TIR1-mediated repressor degradation.</p>
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