Suppression of auxin signal transduction by a mapk cascade in higher plants

ABSTRACT The plant hormone auxin activates many early response genes that are thought to be responsible for diverse aspects of plant growth and development1. It has been proposed that auxin

signal transduction is mediated by a conserved signalling cascade consisting of three protein kinases: the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), MAPK kinase (MAPKK) and MAPKK kinase

(MAPKKK)2. Here we show that a specific plant MAPKKK, NPK1 (ref. 3), activates a MAPK cascade that leads to the suppression of early auxin response gene transcription. A mutation in the

kinase domain abolishes NPK1 activity, and the presence of the carboxy-terminal domain diminishes the kinase activity. Moreover, the effects of NPK1 on the activation of a MAPK and the

repression of early auxin response gene transcription are specifically eliminated by a MAPK phosphatase4. Transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing the NPK1 kinase domain produced seeds

defective in embryo and endosperm development. These results suggest that auxin sensitivity may be balanced by antagonistic signalling pathways that use a distinct MAPK cascade in higher

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support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS COMPARATIVE MUTANT ANALYSES REVEAL A NOVEL MECHANISM OF ARF REGULATION IN LAND PLANTS Article Open access 11 April 2025 MECHANISMS OF AUXIN

ACTION IN PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Article 19 May 2025 OVER 25 YEARS OF DECRYPTING PIN-MEDIATED PLANT DEVELOPMENT Article Open access 15 November 2024 REFERENCES * Abel, S. &

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_Plant Cell_ 9, 5–19 (1997). Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank T. Ulmasov and T. J. Guilfoyle for the GH3–GUS construct; J.-C. Jang for the tobacco

cDNA; M. Minet for the _Arabidopsis_ cDNA library; H. Sun and N. K. Tonks for the MKP1 cDNA; and T. Jones, A. Khokhlatchev, G. Lazar, J. Nardone and J. Nishio for comments on the

manuscript. J.S. is supported by Hoecht A.G., USDA and NSF. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Genetics, and Department of Molecular Biology, Harvard Medical School,

Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, 02114, Massachusetts, USA Yelena Kovtun, Wan-Ling Chiu, Weike Zeng & Jen Sheen Authors * Yelena Kovtun View author publications You can also

search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Wan-Ling Chiu View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Weike Zeng View author publications You

can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jen Sheen View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence

to Jen Sheen. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Kovtun, Y., Chiu, WL., Zeng, W. _et al._ Suppression of auxin signal transduction by a MAPK

cascade in higher plants. _Nature_ 395, 716–720 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/27240 Download citation * Received: 23 June 1998 * Accepted: 10 August 1998 * Issue Date: 15 October 1998 *

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