AtBS14a and AtBS14b, two Bet1/Sft1-like SNAREs from Arabidopsis thaliana that complement mutations in the yeast SFT1 gene

SNAREs are membrane-associated proteins that play a central role in vesicle targeting and intra-cellular membrane fusion reactions in eukaryotic cells, Here we describe the identification of AtBS14a and AtBS14b, putative SNAREs from Arabidopsis. thaliana that share 60% amino acid sequence identity, Both AtBS14a and BS14b are dosage suppressors of the temperature-sensitive growth defect in sft1-1 cells and overexpression of either AtBS14a or AtBS14b can support the growth of sft1 Delta cells but not bet1 Delta cells. These data together with structure-function and biochemical studies presented herein suggest that AtBS14a and AtBS14b share properties that are consistent with them being members of the Bet1/Sft1 SNARE protein family. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies.