Knowledge Bank

The circadian clock is an endogenous 24 rhythm within most organisms that allows the organism to respond to environmental cues, predict environmental conditions, and regulate a large number of genes’ expression. This project seeks to contribute to the growing knowledge of the circadian clock in plants by investigating the interaction between two clock related proteins. This project investigates the protein interaction between ZEITLUPE (ZTL), an F-box protein responsible for targeted degradation of TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION 1, and GIGANTEA (GI) a protein know to regulate flowering time. Previous research developed a transgenic arabidopsis line that over-expressed the LOV domain of ZTL and observed the phenotypic characteristic of this line. Here we use the LOV over-expressing line to show that GI and ZTL proteins interact via the LOV domain of ZTL. We also show that the LOV interaction with GI is responsible for the clock related phenotypes caused by LOV over-expression. Finally we postulate of mechanism by which ZTL may effect flowering time through GI.