REVERSION-TO-ETHYLENE SENSITIVITY1, a conserved gene that regulates ethylene receptor function in Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis thaliana has five ethylene hormone receptors, which bind ethylene and elicit responses critical for plant growth and development. Here we describe a negative regulator of ethylene responses, REVERSION-TO-ETHYLENE SENSITIVITY1 (RTE1), which regulates the function of at least one of the receptors, ETR1, in Arabidopsis. RTE1 was identified based on the ability of rte1 mutations to suppress ethylene insensitivity of the dominant gain-of-function allele etr1-2. rte1 loss-of-function mutants have an enhanced ethylene response that closely resembles the etr1 null phenotype. The etr1 rte1 double null mutant is identical to the etr1 and rte1 single null mutants, suggesting that the two genes act in the same pathway. rte1 is unable to suppress the etr1-1 gain-of-function allele, placing RTE1 at or upstream of ETR1. rte1 also fails to suppress gain-of-function mutations in each of the four other ethylene receptor genes. RTE1 encodes a previously undescribed predicted membrane protein, which is highly conserved in plants, animals [corrected] and protists but absent in fungi and prokaryotes. Ethylene treatment induces RTE1 expression, and overexpression of RTE1 confers reduced ethylene sensitivity that partially depends on ETR1. These findings demonstrate that RTE1 is a negative regulator of ethylene signaling and suggest that RTE1 plays an important role in ETR1 function.