Developmental regulation of ribosomal protein L16 genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Lateral roots can be synchronously induced in Arabidopsis by a brief auxin treatment. An early event in the development of a lateral root primordium is the accumulation of mRNAs encoding ribosomal proteins. In situ hybridizations show that mRNA encoding one ribosomal protein, L16, accumulates in all rapidly proliferating tissues including the shoot and root apical meristems and lateral root primordia. To understand further the mechanisms by which ribosomal proteins are coordinately synthesized, two genes encoding the ribosomal protein L16 were isolated from Arabidopsis thaliana. Promoter sequences from each RPL16A and RPL16B were fused to the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene GUS. The promoter of RPL16B(from -848 to -19) conferred X-Gluc staining in proliferating tissues including the shoot and root apical meristems. When GUS was expressed from the RPL16A promoter (from -875 to -22), X-Gluc staining was observed in cells in the root stele and in anthers. When seedlings transformed with either promoter construct were treated with auxin to induce lateral roots, X-Gluc staining accumulated in the lateral root primordia by 16 h after induction. Transcription of the RPL16B promoter appears to be correlated with cell division, while transcription of the RPL16A promoter is very cell specific. Expression of two genes encoding L16 during the early phase of lateral root initiation and in developing pollen may serve to increase levels of ribosomal proteins during the rapid growth of these tissues.