Plant interstitial telomere motifs participate in the control of gene expression in root meristems

SummaryThe promoters of Arabidopsis eEF1A genes contain a telomere motif, the telo‐box, associated with an activating sequence, the tef‐box. Database searches indicated the presence of telo‐boxes in the 5′ region of numerous genes encoding components of the translational apparatus. By using several promoter constructs we demonstrate that the telo‐box is required for the expression of a β‐glucoronidase gene in root primordia of transgenic Arabidopsis. This effect was observed when a telo‐box was inserted upstream or downstream from the transcription initiation site, and occurred in synergy with the tef‐box. These results clearly indicate that interstitial telomere motifs in plants are involved in control of gene expression. South‐western screening of a λZAP library with a double‐stranded Arabidopsis telomere motif resulted in characterization of a protein related to the conserved animal protein Purα. The possibility of a regulation process similar to that achieved by the Rap1p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is discussed.