An Arabidopsis 14-3-3 protein can act as a transcriptional activator in yeast

The 14-3-3 proteins are a group of highly conserved and widely distributed eukaryotic proteins with diverse functions. One 14-3-3 protein, AFT1 from Arabidopsis thaliana, was found to be able to activate transcription in yeast, When fused to the DNA-binding domain of a bacterial protein LexA, AFT1 can activate transcription of reporter genes that contain LexA operator sequences in their promoters. Although the in vivo function of AFT1 is not completely known, its similarity to previously identified proteins found in transcription complexes of Arabidopsis and maize suggests that AFT1 and some other 14-3-3 proteins may activate gene expression in other systems as well. (C) 1999 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.