Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences logoLink to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
. 1998 Sep 29;353(1374):1405–1412. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1998.0295

The ethylene-receptor family from Arabidopsis: structure and function.

A B Bleecker 1, J J Esch 1, A E Hall 1, F I Rodríguez 1, B M Binder 1
PMCID: PMC1692356  PMID: 9800203

Abstract

The gaseous hormone ethylene regulates many aspects of plant growth and development. Ethylene is perceived by a family of high-affinity receptors typified by the ETR1 protein from Arabidopsis. The ETR1 gene codes for a protein which contains a hydrophobic N-terminal domain that binds ethylene and a C-terminal domain that is related in sequence to histidine kinase-response regulator two-component signal transducers found in bacteria. A structural model for the ethylene-binding domain is presented in which a Cu(I) ion is coordinated within membrane-spanning alpha-helices of the hydrophobic domain. It is proposed that binding of ethylene to the transition metal would induce a conformational change in the sensor domain that would be propagated to the cytoplasmic transmitter domain of the protein. A total of four additional genes that are related in sequence to ETR1 have been identified in Arabidopsis. Specific missense mutations in any one of the five genes leads to ethylene insensitivity in planta. Models for signal transduction that can account for the genetic dominance of these mutations are discussed.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (383.3 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aravind L., Ponting C. P. The GAF domain: an evolutionary link between diverse phototransducing proteins. Trends Biochem Sci. 1997 Dec;22(12):458–459. doi: 10.1016/s0968-0004(97)01148-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. BURG S. P., BURG E. A. ETHYLENE ACTION AND THE RIPENING OF FRUITS. Science. 1965 May 28;148(3674):1190–1196. doi: 10.1126/science.148.3674.1190. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bleecker A. B., Estelle M. A., Somerville C., Kende H. Insensitivity to Ethylene Conferred by a Dominant Mutation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Science. 1988 Aug 26;241(4869):1086–1089. doi: 10.1126/science.241.4869.1086. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bleecker A. B., Schaller G. E. The Mechanism of Ethylene Perception. Plant Physiol. 1996 Jul;111(3):653–660. doi: 10.1104/pp.111.3.653. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burg S. P., Burg E. A. Molecular requirements for the biological activity of ethylene. Plant Physiol. 1967 Jan;42(1):144–152. doi: 10.1104/pp.42.1.144. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chang C., Kwok S. F., Bleecker A. B., Meyerowitz E. M. Arabidopsis ethylene-response gene ETR1: similarity of product to two-component regulators. Science. 1993 Oct 22;262(5133):539–544. doi: 10.1126/science.8211181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chao Q., Rothenberg M., Solano R., Roman G., Terzaghi W., Ecker J. R. Activation of the ethylene gas response pathway in Arabidopsis by the nuclear protein ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE3 and related proteins. Cell. 1997 Jun 27;89(7):1133–1144. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80300-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clark K. L., Larsen P. B., Wang X., Chang C. Association of the Arabidopsis CTR1 Raf-like kinase with the ETR1 and ERS ethylene receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Apr 28;95(9):5401–5406. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.9.5401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cochran A. G., Kim P. S. Imitation of Escherichia coli aspartate receptor signaling in engineered dimers of the cytoplasmic domain. Science. 1996 Feb 23;271(5252):1113–1116. doi: 10.1126/science.271.5252.1113. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ecker J. R. The ethylene signal transduction pathway in plants. Science. 1995 May 5;268(5211):667–675. doi: 10.1126/science.7732375. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Falke J. J., Koshland D. E., Jr Global flexibility in a sensory receptor: a site-directed cross-linking approach. Science. 1987 Sep 25;237(4822):1596–1600. doi: 10.1126/science.2820061. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gamble R. L., Coonfield M. L., Schaller G. E. Histidine kinase activity of the ETR1 ethylene receptor from Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Jun 23;95(13):7825–7829. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.13.7825. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Guzmán P., Ecker J. R. Exploiting the triple response of Arabidopsis to identify ethylene-related mutants. Plant Cell. 1990 Jun;2(6):513–523. doi: 10.1105/tpc.2.6.513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Hua J., Chang C., Sun Q., Meyerowitz E. M. Ethylene insensitivity conferred by Arabidopsis ERS gene. Science. 1995 Sep 22;269(5231):1712–1714. doi: 10.1126/science.7569898. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hua J., Meyerowitz E. M. Ethylene responses are negatively regulated by a receptor gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana. Cell. 1998 Jul 24;94(2):261–271. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81425-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kehoe D. M., Grossman A. R. Similarity of a chromatic adaptation sensor to phytochrome and ethylene receptors. Science. 1996 Sep 6;273(5280):1409–1412. doi: 10.1126/science.273.5280.1409. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kieber J. J., Rothenberg M., Roman G., Feldmann K. A., Ecker J. R. CTR1, a negative regulator of the ethylene response pathway in Arabidopsis, encodes a member of the raf family of protein kinases. Cell. 1993 Feb 12;72(3):427–441. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90119-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Kieber J. J. The ethylene response pathway in Arabidopsis. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 1997;48:277–296. doi: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.48.1.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Maeda T., Wurgler-Murphy S. M., Saito H. A two-component system that regulates an osmosensing MAP kinase cascade in yeast. Nature. 1994 May 19;369(6477):242–245. doi: 10.1038/369242a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Milligan D. L., Koshland D. E., Jr Site-directed cross-linking. Establishing the dimeric structure of the aspartate receptor of bacterial chemotaxis. J Biol Chem. 1988 May 5;263(13):6268–6275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Ota I. M., Varshavsky A. A yeast protein similar to bacterial two-component regulators. Science. 1993 Oct 22;262(5133):566–569. doi: 10.1126/science.8211183. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Pan S. Q., Charles T., Jin S., Wu Z. L., Nester E. W. Preformed dimeric state of the sensor protein VirA is involved in plant--Agrobacterium signal transduction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Nov 1;90(21):9939–9943. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.21.9939. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Parkinson J. S. Signal transduction schemes of bacteria. Cell. 1993 Jun 4;73(5):857–871. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90267-t. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Posas F., Wurgler-Murphy S. M., Maeda T., Witten E. A., Thai T. C., Saito H. Yeast HOG1 MAP kinase cascade is regulated by a multistep phosphorelay mechanism in the SLN1-YPD1-SSK1 "two-component" osmosensor. Cell. 1996 Sep 20;86(6):865–875. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80162-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Roman G., Lubarsky B., Kieber J. J., Rothenberg M., Ecker J. R. Genetic analysis of ethylene signal transduction in Arabidopsis thaliana: five novel mutant loci integrated into a stress response pathway. Genetics. 1995 Mar;139(3):1393–1409. doi: 10.1093/genetics/139.3.1393. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Sakai H., Hua J., Chen Q. G., Chang C., Medrano L. J., Bleecker A. B., Meyerowitz E. M. ETR2 is an ETR1-like gene involved in ethylene signaling in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 May 12;95(10):5812–5817. doi: 10.1073/pnas.95.10.5812. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Schaller G. E., Bleecker A. B. Ethylene-binding sites generated in yeast expressing the Arabidopsis ETR1 gene. Science. 1995 Dec 15;270(5243):1809–1811. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5243.1809. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Sisler E. C. Measurement of ethylene binding in plant tissue. Plant Physiol. 1979 Oct;64(4):538–542. doi: 10.1104/pp.64.4.538. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Swanson R. V., Alex L. A., Simon M. I. Histidine and aspartate phosphorylation: two-component systems and the limits of homology. Trends Biochem Sci. 1994 Nov;19(11):485–490. doi: 10.1016/0968-0004(94)90135-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Wilkinson J. Q., Lanahan M. B., Yen H. C., Giovannoni J. J., Klee H. J. An ethylene-inducible component of signal transduction encoded by never-ripe. Science. 1995 Dec 15;270(5243):1807–1809. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5243.1807. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Yen H. C., Lee S., Tanksley S. D., Lanahan M. B., Klee H. J., Giovannoni J. J. The tomato Never-ripe locus regulates ethylene-inducible gene expression and is linked to a homolog of the Arabidopsis ETR1 gene. Plant Physiol. 1995 Apr;107(4):1343–1353. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.4.1343. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are provided here courtesy of The Royal Society

RESOURCES