Poster: Hormones

Abs # 600: GCR2 is a potential component of G-protein mediated signaling in Arabidopsis

Presenter:	Nelson, David C, dnelson@biochem.wisc.edu
Authors	Nelson, David C (A)   Breunig, Lee  (A)   Sussman, Michael  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): UW-Madison

G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) compose a diverse family of membrane proteins responsible for the perception of a wide variety of signals in many eukaryotic organisms. They act in conjunction with heterotrimeric G-protein complexes to initiate cellular signaling cascades upon activation by extracellular ligands. While in plants the components of a heterotrimeric G-protein have been identified and G-protein mediated signaling pathways have been implicated in a number of physiological processes, only one strong candidate for a receptor has been identified thus far. As this dearth is in sharp contrast to the abundance of GPCRs observed in other eukaryotes, it seems likely that a number of receptors have been overlooked because of insufficient primary sequence similarity. To explore this possibility, we are pursuing the characterization of a family of membrane proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana through a reverse genetics approach, using putative roles as GPCRs as a paradigm for investigating their function. Here we report the phenotypic and molecular characterization of one family member, GCR2.