Characterization of a zinc-dependent transcriptional activator from Arabidopsis

The C2-H2 zinc-finger is a widely occurring DNA binding motif, usually present as tandem repeats. The majority of C2-H2 zinc-finger proteins that have been studied are derived from animals. Here, we characterize a member of a distinct class of plant C2-H2 zinc-finger proteins in detail. A cDNA clone encoding a DNA binding protein from Arabidopsis was isolated by SouthWestern screening. The protein, termed ZAP1 (Zinc-dependent Activator Protein-1), is encoded by a single copy gene, which is expressed to similar levels in root and flower, to a somewhat lower level in stem and to low levels in leaf and siliques. The optimal binding site was determined by random binding site selection, and the consensus sequence found is CGTTGACCGAG. The homology between ZAP1 and other DNA binding proteins is restricted to a repeated region of a stretch of 24 highly conserved amino acids followed by a zinc-finger motif (C-X4-C-X22-23-H-X1-H). The C-terminal zinc-finger region is essential for DNA binding, whereas deletion of the N-terminal one resulted in 2.5-fold reduced binding affinity. Binding of ZAP1 to DNA was abolished by metal-chelating agents. The activation domain as determined in yeast is adjacent to and possibly overlapping with the DNA binding domain. Particle bombardment experiments with plant cells showed that ZAP1 increases expression of a gusA reporter gene that is under control of ZAP1 binding sites. We conclude that ZAP1 is a plant transcriptional activator with a C2-H2 zinc-finger DNA binding domain.