Novel nuclear protein ALC-INTERACTING PROTEIN1 is expressed in vascular and mesocarp cells in Arabidopsis

Pod shattering is an agronomical trait that is a result of the coordinated action of cell differentiation and separation. In Arabidopsis, pod shattering is controlled by a complex genetic network in which ALCATRAZ (ALC), a member of the basic helix-loop-helix family, is critical for cell separation during fruit dehiscence. Herein, we report the identification of ALC-INTERACTING PROTEIN1 (ACI1) via the yeast two-hybrid screen. ACI1 encodes a nuclear protein with a lysine-rich domain and a C-terminal serine-rich domain. ACI1 is mainly expressed in the vascular system throughout the plant and mesocarp of the valve in siliques. Our data showed that ACI1 interacts strongly with the N-terminal portion of ALC in yeast cells and in plant cells in the nucleus as demonstrated by bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay. Both ACI1 and ALC share an overlapping expression pattern, suggesting that they likely function together in planta. However, no detectable phenotype was found in plants with reduced ACI1 expression by RNA interference technology, suggesting that ACI1 may be redundant. Taken together, these data indicate that ALC may interact with ACI1 and its homologs to control cell separation during fruit dehiscence in Arabidopsis.