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Updated: Mar 23, 2026

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Assay for the Identification of Arabidopsis Protein-DNA Interactions In Vivo
Published on: January 14, 2016
MicroProtein-Mediated Recruitment of CONSTANS into a TOPLESS Trimeric Complex Represses Flowering in Arabidopsis
Moritz Graeff1,2,3, Daniel Straub1,2,3, Tenai Eguen1,2,3
1Center for Plant Molecular Biology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
MicroProteins are short, single domain proteins that act by sequestering larger, multi-domain proteins into non-functional complexes. MicroProteins have been identified in plants and animals, where they are mostly involved in the regulation of developmental processes. Here we show that two Arabidopsis thaliana microProteins, miP1a and miP1b, physically interact with CONSTANS (CO) a potent regulator of flowering time. The miP1a/b-type microProteins evolved in dicotyledonous plants and have an additional carboxy-terminal PF(V/L)FL motif. This motif enables miP1a/b microProteins to interact with TOPLESS/TOPLESS-RELATED (TPL/TPR) proteins. Interaction of CO with miP1a/b/TPL causes late flowering due to a failure in the induction of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) expression under inductive long day conditions. Both miP1a and miP1b are expressed in vascular tissue, where CO and FT are active. Genetically, miP1a/b act upstream of CO thus our findings unravel a novel layer of flowering time regulation via microProtein-inhibition.
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