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Role of the MPN Subunits in COP9 Signalosome Assemblyand Activity, and Their Regulatory Interaction withArabidopsis Cullin3-Based E3 Ligases W
Giuliana Gusmaroli, Pablo Figueroa,1 Giovanna Serino,2 and Xing Wang Deng3
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8104
The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is an evolutionarily conserved multisubunit protein complex that regulates a variety of
biological processes. Among its eight subunits, CSN5 and CSN6 contain a characteristic MPN (for Mpr1p and Pad1p N-
terminal) domain and, in Arabidopsis thaliana, are each encoded by two genes: CSN5A, CSN5B and CSN6A, CSN6B,
respectively. We characterized both MPN subunits using a series of single and double mutants within each gene family. Our
results indicate that although CSN6A and CSN6B retain mostly redundant functions, CSN5A and CSN5B play unequal roles
in the regulation of plant development. Complete depletion of either of the two MPN members results in CSN instability and
the decay of various CSN components, along with the complete loss of CUL1, CUL3, and CUL4 derubylation. Furthermore,
we demonstrate that CSN interacts with CUL3, in addition to CUL1 and CUL4, and that the lack of CSN activity differentially
affects the stability of those three cullins. Interestingly, we also show that optimal CUL3 activity is required to maintain the
cellular pool of CSN5, through a posttranscriptional mechanism. Our data suggest the existence of reciprocal regulation
between CUL3 and CSN5 accumulation. This study thus completes the genetic analysis of all CSN subunits and confirms the
structural interdependence between PCI and MPN subunits in functional CSN complex formation.
INTRODUCTION
The COP9 signalosome (CSN) is a nucleus-enriched multisubunit
protein complex conserved throughout evolution (Wei et al.,
1994a, 1998; Chamovitz et al., 1996; Seeger et al., 1998; Freilich
et al., 1999; Mundt et al., 1999; Busch et al., 2003). Genetic and
molecular analyses indicate that the CSN is involved in the
regulation of a variety of signaling and developmental processes,
including embryogenesis, cell cycle, circadian rhythms, DNA
repair, and plant responses to light and hormones (reviewed in
Wei and Deng, 2003; Richardson and Zundel, 2005). The CSN
interacts with a large number of proteins, including several
components or regulators of the ubiquitin–proteasome system
(Smalle and Vierstra, 2004). Among the CSN’s eight subunits, six
contain a PCI domain (for Proteosome, COP9, Initiation factor 3)
and two (CSN5 and CSN6) contain a MPN/MOV34 domain (for
Mpr1p and Pad1p N-terminal) (Glickman et al., 1998; Hofmann
and Bucher, 1998; Wei et al., 1998).
A known biochemical activity of the CSN is the removal of the
ubiquitin-like protein RUB1/NEDD8 from the cullin subunit of the
Cullin-RING ligase (CRL) family of E3 complexes (Cope and
Deshaies, 2003; Wei and Deng, 2003; Harari-Steinberg and
Chamovitz, 2004). To date, it has been shown that the CSN
interacts with and promotes RUB1/NEDD8 deconjugation from
the Cullin1-containing SCF (for SKP1-CUL1/CDC53-F-box pro-
tein), Cullin3-containing BCR (for BTB/POZ domain-CUL3-
RING), and Cullin4-containing E3 ubiquitin ligases (Lyapina
et al., 2001; Schwechheimer et al., 2001; Liu et al., 2002, 2005;
Feng et al., 2003; Groisman et al., 2003; Higa et al., 2003; Pintard
et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2003). CSN also deconjugates RUB1/
NEDD8 from CUL2, a subunit of the VCB (for Von Hippel Lindau-
Elongin B-Elongin C) E3 complex (Yang et al., 2002). Like the
ubiquitin pathway, the RUB1/NEDD8 conjugation pathway is
catalyzed by an enzymatic cascade and is essential in Schizo-
saccharomyces pombe, Arabidopsis thaliana, Caenorhabditis
elegans, Drosophila, and mouse (Jones and Candido, 2000;
Osaka et al., 2000; Tateishi et al., 2001; Ou et al., 2002; Bostick
et al., 2004). In plants, rubylation is also important for several
physiological processes, including auxin and ethylene re-
sponses (del Pozo et al., 2002; Gray et al., 2002; Dharmasiri
et al., 2003; Bostick et al., 2004; Larsen and Cancel, 2004).
Conjugation of RUB1/NEDD8 to CUL1 increases the activity of
the SCF complexes in vitro and in vivo, probably by facilitating
substrate polyubiquitination and E2 recruitment to the E3 ligases
(Kawakami et al., 2001; Pan et al., 2004). In addition, it was dem-
onstrated recently that the increased availability of the F-box
subunit SKP2, and its substrate, promotes neddylation and the
assembly of SCFSKP2 complexes (Bornstein et al., 2006). At the
same time, CSN-mediated cullin derubylation is essential for in
vivo organized E3 functions (Wolf et al., 2003). In fact, CSN de-
rubylation and its associated UBP12-mediated deubiquitination
1 Current address: Delaware Biotechnology Institute, Department ofPlant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711.2 Current address: Laboratorio per la Genomica Funzionale e Proteo-mica dei Sistemi Modello, Universita ‘‘La Sapienza,’’ 00185 Rome, Italy.3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail xingwang.deng@yale.edu; fax 203-432-5726.The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to thefindings presented in this article in accordance with the policy describedin the Instructions for Authors (www.plantcell.org) is: Xing Wang Deng(xingwang.deng@yale.edu).W Online version contains Web-only data.www.plantcell.org/cgi/doi/10.1105/tpc.106.047571
The Plant Cell, Vol. 19: 564–581, February 2007, www.plantcell.org ª 2007 American Society of Plant Biologists
activities (Zhou et al., 2003) promote CRL E3 function by
counteracting the instability of the E3 components caused by
CRL autoubiquitination activity (He et al., 2005; Wee et al., 2005;
Cope and Deshaies, 2006; Wu et al., 2006). Together, these
findings demonstrate that cycles of rubylation/derubylation are
essential for maintaining an optimal pool of active Cullin-RING
ligases and explain the mechanism underlying substrate accu-
mulation in csn mutants (Lykke-Andersen et al., 2003; Cope and
Deshaies, 2006; Denti et al., 2006).
The CSN derubylation activity is located within the JAMM (for
JAB1/MPN/MOV34) or MPNþmotif of CSN5 (Cope et al., 2002),
which is embedded within its MPN domain. Interestingly, this
motif is absent in the other MPN domain subunit of CSN (CSN6),
whose function remains unknown.
The CSN was initially discovered during genetic screens for
constitutive photomorphogenic development in darkness, which
led to the identification of 10 COP/DET/FUS loci (reviewed in Wei
and Deng, 2003). Six of the nine molecularly characterized COP/
DET/FUS loci encode the six PCI subunits of the COP9 complex,
whereas the MPN/MOV34 subunits CSN5 and CSN6 are not
represented by any of those genes. In Arabidopsis, both MPN
subunits are encoded by two highly homologous genes: CSN5A
and CSN5B (Kwok et al., 1998) and CSN6A and CSN6B (Peng
et al., 2001a), respectively. In the case of CSN5, we have shown
previously that CSN5A and CSN5B incorporate into distinct CSN
(CSNCSN5A and CSNCSN5B) complexes in vivo (Gusmaroli et al.,
2004). The initial characterizations of mutant plants defective in
one (csn5a-1 and csn5a-2) or the other (csn5b-1) CSN5 subunit
have been reported (Gusmaroli et al., 2004; Dohmann et al.,
2005). Both studies showed that the two CSN5 isoforms play
unequal roles in plant development, with CSN5A exerting a more
prominent one.
In plants and mammals, loss of a PCI subunit normally triggers
the cellular depletion of the entire CSN (Kwok et al., 1998; Serino
et al., 1999; Peng et al., 2001a, 2001b; Wang et al., 2002; Lykke-
Andersen et al., 2003; Yan et al., 2003). In the case of the MPN
subunit CSN5, however, nonidentical effects have been ob-
served in different organisms. Whereas in mammals (Tomoda
et al., 2004; Denti et al., 2006) and fission yeast (Mundt et al.,
2002), CSN5 is necessary for CSN stability, in Drosophila csn5Null
mutants, CSN4 and CSN7 still form a large protein complex
similar to that of the wild type (Oron et al., 2002). In Arabidopsis,
the characterization of a double csn5 mutant line (csn5a-2
cns5b-1) led to the conclusion that loss of CSN5 results in the
formation of a stable CSN form lacking CSN5 only (Dohmann
et al., 2005). However, the csn5a-2 allele used in that study was a
partial loss-of-function allele, still producing reduced levels of a
functional CSN5A protein.
Here, we have undertaken a systematic characterization of
each member of the CSN5 and CSN6 gene families, using a
series of single and double null mutants within each gene family.
Together, our results reveal the specific role of each CSN5 and
CSN6 family member in CSN complex assembly and stability as
well as their contributions to the derubylation activity and CSN
functions in plant development. In addition, we demonstrate that
CSN interacts with CUL3-based E3 ubiquitin ligases both in vitro
and in vivo and that CSN derubylation activity is essential to
maintain the cellular pool of CUL3. Finally, we provide genetic
and biochemical evidence to show that CSN5 levels, in turn, can
be modulated by CUL3, revealing a reciprocal regulation be-
tween CSN5 and CUL3 accumulation.
RESULTS
Generation and Characterization of csn5a and csn5b Single
and Double Mutants Reveal That CSN5A and CSN5B Are
Differentially Expressed throughout Plant Development
To investigate whether the complete loss of CSN5 activity would
lead to the destabilization of the entire complex, we conducted a
detailed characterization of csn5a and csn5b single and double
mutants. We used two CSN5A T-DNA insertion lines and one
CSN5B T-DNA insertion line (see Methods for details) (Gusmaroli
et al., 2004; Dohmann et al., 2005). To determine whether the two
T-DNA insertions in CSN5A give rise to reduction or complete
loss of function, RT-PCR analyses were performed on RNA
extracted from each single mutant line (Figure 1). The positions of
the gene-specific primers used to selectively amplify the CSN5A
and CSN5B transcripts are shown in Figure 1A. The complete
absence of the CSN5A transcript in the csn5a-1 mutant (Figures
1B and 1C, third lanes) demonstrates that the T-DNA insertion in
the first exon of CSN5A gives rise to a null mutation. On the other
hand, we could amplify the CSN5A transcript in the csn5a-2
homozygous line using different sets of CSN5A gene-specific
primers (Figures 1B and 1C, second lanes). We detected wild-
type levels of CSN5A transcript using sets of primers located 59
of the T-DNA insertion (Figure 1B, second lane), whereas the
level of full-length CSN5A transcript was reduced considerably
but still detectable using different sets of primers spanning the
entire CSN5A coding region (Figure 1C, second lane). Together,
these results demonstrate that, in the csn5a-2 homozygous line,
the intron containing the T-DNA insertion can be correctly spliced
out, at low efficiency, producing full-length CSN5A transcript.
The removal of the T-DNA during pre-mRNA processing has
been observed previously in other T-DNA homozygous lines
when the T-DNA is inserted within an intron (our unpublished
data). In conclusion, the RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that
the csn5a-2 mutant still retains reduced levels of wild-type
CSN5A transcript and therefore should be considered a CSN5A
reduction-of-function line and not a null csn5a mutant. On the
other hand, the absence of CSN5B transcript in csn5b-1 seed-
lings demonstrated that the T-DNA insertion in CSN5B gives rise
to a null mutation (Figure 1D, first lane).
Protein gel blot analyses of the single csn5 mutants show that
CSN5A is expressed predominantly (Figure 1F, second lane),
whereas CSN5B is barely detectable (Figure 1F, fourth lane), in
Arabidopsis seedlings and throughout plant development (data
not shown). We did not observe a detectable dose effect of CSN5
function in heterozygous csn5a plants (csn5a-2/þ and csn5a-1/þ),
either at the biochemical (Figure 1F, last two lanes) or the
morphological (data not shown) level. The comparison of CSN5
level between csn5a-2 and csn5a-1 mutants (Figure 1F, third and
fourth lanes) indicates that csn5a-2 expresses reduced levels of
an intact CSN5A subunit (in addition to the CSN5B protein), as
anticipated by the presence of low levels of full-length CSN5A
transcript in the csn5a-2 genetic background.
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 565
CSN5A and CSN5B Play Unequal Roles in Regulating
Photomorphogenesis, Root Elongation, Auxin Response,
and Vegetative and Reproductive Growth
During the initial days after germination (DAG) in white light, the
csn5a-1 and csn5a-2 seedlings exhibit a phenotype reminiscent
of the fusca-type phenotype of the cop/det/fus mutants, char-
acterized by purple cotyledons. However, both csn5a single
mutants are not lethal at the seedling stage, and at a few DAG the
purple cotyledons turn light green before the production of true
leaves (Figure 2A). The detailed characterization of the single
csn5 mutants at representative stages revealed that reduction or
loss of CSN5A results in shorter hypocotyls in the dark, shorter
roots, smaller flowers, a decreased number of root hairs in
response to jasmonic acid treatment, and altered light and auxin
responses (see Supplemental Figure 1 online).
At the vegetative stage, the csn5a plantlets are characterized
by small, light green, and curly rosettes (Figure 2B, 12 and 14
DAG), which are almost completely depleted of trichomes, in
contrast with wild-type and csn5b-1 plants (Figure 2C). At the
reproductive stage, csn5a-1 and csn5a-2 mutants exhibit severe
developmental defects that result in dwarf stature and the loss of
apical dominance (Figure 2B, 52 DAG).
It is worth noting that whereas csn5a-1 and csn5a-2 are
virtually indistinguishable from each other in the initial few DAG
(Figure 2A), starting from 8 DAG and throughout the vegetative
stage, the phenotype of csn5a-2 is less severe than that of
csn5a-1, in terms of both rosette size (Figure 2B) and trichome
density (Figure 2C). This difference becomes particularly evident
at the reproductive phase (Figure 2B, 52 DAG) and could be
explained by the residual activity of CSN5A in csn5a-2 mutants,
as shown below. By contrast, csn5b-1 mutants are virtually
indistinguishable from wild-type plants at all developmental
stages (Figures 2A and 2B).
Genetic and Biochemical Analyses of Two Different Double
Mutant Lines Indicate That csn5a-2 csn5b-1 Still Retains
Partial CSN5A Function
As a necessary step in the characterization of the contribution of
CSN5 to overall CSN function, we generated csn5a-1 csn5b-1
and csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutant lines. Because of low levels
of wild-type CSN5A transcript (Figure 1C, second lane) and
protein (Figure 1F, third lane) produced by the csn5a-2 allele,
we characterized both csn5a-1 csn5b-1 and csn5a-2 csn5b-1
double mutants. As shown in Figure 3A, during the first 2 to 3
Figure 1. Expression Analyses of csn5 Single Mutants.
(A) Structures of the Arabidopsis CSN5A (At1g22920) and CSN5B (At1g71230) loci and graphical representation of the T-DNA insertion mutants used in
this study. Arrows indicate the positions and orientations of the gene-specific primers used for the RT-PCR analyses.
(B) to (E) RT-PCR analyses of the wild type and csn5b-1, csn5a-2, and csn5a-1 homozygous mutants. Different sets of gene-specific primers were used
to selectively amplify the CSN5A 59 (B) and full-length (C) transcripts or the CSN5B transcript (D). The eEF-1A (E) (top panel) and Tsb1 (E) (bottom panel)
transcripts were used as positive controls for the RT-PCR analyses. Genomic DNA was used as a positive control for the PCR. Arrows indicate the PCR
products corresponding to mature CSN5A and CSN5B transcripts. The csn5a-2 mutants still express low levels of full-length CSN5A mRNA.
(F) Detection of CSN5 proteins from the wild type and null homozygous csn5b-1 and weak (csn5a-2) or null (csn5a-1) homozygous and heterozygous
csn5a mutants with anti (a)-CSN5 polyclonal antibodies, which recognize both CSN5A and CSN5B isoforms. Equal protein loading was confirmed using
a-RPN6 antibody. The csn5a-2 mutants express low levels of CSN5A protein in addition to traces of CSN5B.
566 The Plant Cell
DAG, both csn5a-1 csn5b-1 and csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutant
lines display the typical photomorphogenic phenotype of the
fusca mutants. At these time points, both lines are virtually
indistinguishable from each other. However, at 6 to 7 DAG, the
csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutants uniformly start to form the first
pair of true leaves (Figure 3A) and eventually develop into
impaired small plantlets, with dark red cotyledons and asym-
metrical leaves (Figure 3B). Similar defects also have been
described for other CSN reduction-of-function lines generated
by CSN6A antisense and cosuppression approaches (Peng
et al., 2001a). Interestingly, none of the csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double
mutants arrest at the seedling stage, and even though severely
compromised, csn5a-2 csn5b-1 plantlets survive to a mature
stage (Figure 3C). It is worth noting that the phenotype of the
csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutants shown in Figure 3 has been
homogeneously observed in 100% of the segregating csn5a-2
csn5b-1 F2 seedlings derived from several independent crosses
between the csn5a-2 and csn5b-1 homozygous parental lines.
On the other hand, csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double null homozygous
mutants invariably die at the seedling stage (Figure 3A), do not
express detectable CSN5 proteins (Figure 3D, third lane), and are
virtually identical to the null alleles of the cop/det/fus mutants.
The discrepancy between the severe pleiotropic phenotype of
csn5a-2 csn5b-1 mutants and the lethality of the csn5a-1 csn5b-1
seedlings can be explained by the residual CSN5A activity in the
csn5a-2 csn5b-1 background. In fact, these double mutants
express reduced levels of an intact CSN5A protein (Figure 3D,
second lane), which elutes almost exclusively in high molecular
mass fractions and cofractionates with other CSN subunits in
csn5a-2 csn5b-1 seedling extracts (Figure 3E). In agreement, we
observed a residual derubylation activity in csn5a-2 csn5b-1
seedlings, as shown below in Figure 7B.
Characterization of csn6a and csn6b Single and Double
Mutants Reveals That CSN6A and CSN6B Are Differentially
Expressed throughout Plant Development
Arabidopsis CSN6 is encoded by two conserved genes, CSN6A
and CSN6B (Peng et al., 2001a). The two genes encode proteins
that are 87% identical to each other and 47% identical to their
human counterpart. To evaluate their respective functional roles,
T-DNA insertion mutants in CSN6A and CSN6B loci were iden-
tified (Figures 4A to 4C) (see Methods). RT-PCR analyses con-
firmed that the T-DNA insertions in both CSN6 loci result in null
mutations (Figure 4D). We refer to the corresponding mutants as
csn6a-1 and csn6b-1. Protein gel blot analyses with polyclonal
antibody raised against a conserved CSN6A polypeptide sug-
gest that CSN6A is expressed predominantly (Figure 4E, third
lane), whereas CSN6B accumulates at a lower level (Figure 4E,
second lane) both in seedlings (Figure 4E) and in mature plants
(data not shown). These data are consistent with the expression
profiles of the two CSN6 transcripts obtained from Genevesti-
gator (http://www.genevestigator.ethz.ch), which collected hun-
dreds of microarray expression data sets. In fact, in all organs
Figure 2. Mutations in CSN5A but Not CSN5B Result in Multifaceted Developmental Defects at Vegetative and Reproductive Stages.
(A) and (B) Phenotypes of light-grown wild-type and csn5 single mutant plants at different DAG as indicated. At 14 DAG, the plantlet were transferred to
soil and grown in long-day conditions. At each time point, photographs were taken at the same magnification.
(C) Close-up images of wild type, csn5b-1, csn5a-2, and csn5a-1 new leaves at 14 DAG. For comparison, at each stage the photographs were taken at
the same magnification.
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 567
and conditions reported to date, CSN6A is expressed consis-
tently at a higher level than CSN6B.
CSN6A and CSN6B Subunits Are Functionally Redundant
and Essential for Plant Development
As shown in Figures 4G and 4H, both csn6 mutants display a mild
partial photomorphogenic phenotype in the dark and in blue
light, characterized by shorter hypocotyls with respect to wild-
type plants grown under the same conditions. In the dark, loss of
CSN6A seems to affect hypocotyl elongation slightly more than
loss of CSN6B; however, the absence of a characteristic fusca-
type phenotype in the single null lines clearly indicates that both
genes act in a largely redundant manner in the regulation of
photomorphogenesis. Despite a mild phenotype in the dark and
in blue light, csn6a-1 and csn6b-1 do not display any obvious
morphological defects in white light (Figure 4F) and after the
seedling stage (data not shown).
Figure 3. Comparison of the Developmental Defects of Two csn5 Double Mutants, Which Are Severely (csn5a-2 csn5b-1) or Completely (csn5a-1
csn5b-1) Defective in CSN5 Activity.
(A) Phenotypes of light-grown wild-type and csn5 double mutant seedlings at different developmental stages.
(B) Phenotype of csn5a-2 csn5b-1 homozygous mutants at 14 DAG.
(C) Phenotype of 9-week-old csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutants, grown in long-day conditions.
(D) First five panels, PCR-based genotype analyses of wild-type, csn5a-2 csn5b-1, and csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double mutant lines. The positions of the
CSN5A and CSN5B gene-specific primers are indicated in Figure 1A. Primers B1/B2 and B2/LBb1 were used to selectively amplify the CSN5B wild-
type and csn5b-1 T-DNA insertion alleles, respectively. Primers A2/A5 were used to selectively amplify the CSN5A wild-type allele. Primers A5/LBb1
were used to selectively amplify the csn5a-2 (lane 2) and csn5a-1 (lane 3) T-DNA insertion alleles. The genomic sequence of EF-1A was used as a
positive control for the PCR. Last two panels, protein blot analyses of wild-type and csn5 double mutant lines, as indicated. Equal amounts of total
protein extracts were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analyses with anti (a)-CSN5 antibody. The a-RPN6 antibody was used as a loading
control.
(E) Immunoblot analyses of Superose 6 gel filtration fractions obtained from 13-d-old light-grown csn5a-2 csn5b-1 seedlings. Column fractions were
subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analyses with a-CSN3, a-CSN5, and a-CSN6 polyclonal antibodies. Fraction numbers are indicated. Lane T
contains the total unfractionated extracts. The csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutant possesses reduced levels of an intact COP9 complex containing a
functional CSN5A subunit.
568 The Plant Cell
Figure 4. The MPN Subunits CSN6A and CSN6B of CSN Are Essential and Functionally Redundant.
(A) Structures of Arabidopsis CSN6A (At5g56280) and CSN6B (At4g26430) loci and graphical representation of the corresponding T-DNA insertion lines
used in this study. Arrows represent the positions and orientations of the gene-specific primers and the left border T-DNA primer (LBb1) used for the
PCR-based genotype (6A.1, 6A.2, 6B.1, and 6B.2) and RT-PCR (6A.3, 6A.4, 6B.2, and 6B.3) analyses.
(B) and (C) PCR-based genotype analyses of Arabidopsis wild type and csn6a-1 (B) or wild type and csn6b-1 (C) heterozygous and homozygous
mutants. The genomic sequence of the EF-1A locus was used as a positive control for the PCR.
(D) RT-PCR analyses of the wild type and csn6a-1 and csn6b-1 mutants. Primers 6A.3/6A.4 and 6B.2/6B.3 were used to selectively amplify the CSN6A
(top left panel) or CSN6B (bottom left panel) mature transcripts, as indicated. Sets of primers specific for histone H1 (top right panel) and ACT2 (bottom
right panel) were used as positive controls for cDNA calibration.
(E) Detection of CSN6 proteins from the wild type and single and double null homozygous mutants by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analyses with anti
(a)-CSN6 polyclonal antibodies, which recognize both CSN6A and CSN6B subunits. Equal protein loading was confirmed using a-RPN6 antibody.
(F) Phenotypes of 5-d-old wild-type, csn6b-1, csn6a-1, and csn6a-1 csn6b-1 seedlings grown in continuous white light.
(G) and (H) Hypocotyl elongation (G) and phenotypes (H) of wild-type and csn6 mutant seedlings grown for 5 d in darkness or different light qualities, as
indicated (see Methods). Values shown in (G) represent means of 25 seedlings 6 SD. The colored boxes shown in (H) correspond to the genotypes
indicated in (G).
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 569
We further investigated the role of CSN6 in plant development
by generating csn6a-1 csn6b-1 double null mutant plants. In the
dark and under all light conditions tested, loss of function for both
CSN6 proteins results in lethality at the seedling stage and in a
photomorphogenic phenotype indistinguishable from the fusca-
type phenotype of the null cop/det/fus mutants described pre-
viously for the other CSN subunits (Figures 4F to 4H).
Loss of Either CSN5 or CSN6 Results in a Comparable
Destabilization of Other CSN Components
In plants and mammals, it has been shown that several CSN
subunits are unstable in an unbound form (Wei and Deng, 2003).
Therefore, a dramatic reduction in their accumulation generally
reflects the absence of an intact CSN complex and has been
commonly used as a marker of CSN ablation. To define what
happens to the Arabidopsis CSN complex in the absence of one
of its MPN subunits, we compared the stability of all CSN
subunits in the single and double csn5 and csn6 mutants. We
also included in our analyses two known PCI subunit mutants,
csn7 (fus5-1) (Karniol et al., 1999) and csn8 (cop9-1) (Wei et al.,
1994a), for comparison.
As shown in Figure 5A (third and fourth lanes), in csn5a single
mutants, the cellular pools of CSN1, CSN3, CSN5, CSN6, CSN7,
and CSN8 are reduced drastically compared with those in wild-
type and csn5b-1 seedlings, whereas no significant changes are
observed for CSN2 and CSN4. On the other hand, loss of
function of CSN5B does not trigger any detectable changes in
the cellular pools of other CSN subunits, including CSN5 (Figure
5A, second lane). Together, the results presented in Figure 5A
suggest that when CSN5A or CSN5B is reduced or lost, their
corresponding complexes (CSNCSN5A or CSNCSN5B) become
unstable. Because CSNCSN5A is much more abundant, this will
affect more dramatically the cellular pools of other CSN subunits
than the loss of CSNCSN5B. This is different from what is observed
for csn6a-1 and csn6b-1 single mutants (Figure 5B). In fact, lack
of one or the other member of the CSN6 family does not affect the
stability of the other CSN subunits (Figure 5B, second and third
lanes).
Complete loss of function of CSN5, in the csn5a-1 csn5b-1
double null mutant (Figure 5A, last lane), results in the significant
reduction of CSN1, CSN6, CSN7, and CSN8 and in a very slight
reduction of CSN4. In the case of CSN3, the complete loss of
function of CSN5 results in the accumulation of a larger and
possibly modified CSN3 form, whereas the normal (smaller)
CSN3 form is present predominantly in wild-type and csn5b-1
extracts. The only subunit that does not appear to be affected is
CSN2. Effects comparable to that caused by CSN5 depletion on
CSN subunit stability have also been observed in the case of
csn6a-1 csn6b-1 double null mutants (Figure 5B, last lane). In
fact, complete loss of function of CSN6 (csn6a-1 csn6b-1) results
in the significant reduction of CSN1, CSN3, CSN4, CSN7, and
CSN8. The only subunits not affected are CSN2 and CSN5.
Analogous effects on the stability of other CSN components
have also been observed in the absence of the PCI subunits
CSN7 and CSN8. In fact, complete loss of function of CSN7
(Figure 5C, last lane) results in CSN1, CSN3, CSN4, CSN6, and
CSN8 instability, accompanied by a mild reduction of CSN5.
Likewise, complete loss of function of CSN8 (Figure 5D, last lane)
triggers the instability of CSN1, CSN3, CSN5, CSN6, and CSN7.
Once again, the only subunit that does not seem do be signif-
icantly affected is CSN2 and, in the case of the csn8 mutant, also
Figure 5. Loss of Function of CSN5, CSN6, CSN7, or CSN8 Triggers the Destabilization of Several Other CSN Subunits.
Protein blot analyses of CSN subunits in the wild type and csn5 single and double mutants (A), the wild type and csn6 single and double null mutants (B),
the wild type and the csn7 (fus5-1) mutant (C), or the wild type and the csn8 (cop9-1) mutant (D). Equal amounts of total protein extracts from 13-d-old
light-grown seedlings were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analyses with anti (a)-CSN1, a-CSN2, a-CSN3, a-CSN4, a-CSN5, a-CSN6,
a-CSN7, and a-CSN8 polyclonal antibodies. The a-RPN6 antibody was used as a loading control. The lanes indicated by asterisks correspond to
complete loss-of-function mutants.
570 The Plant Cell
CSN4. Together, these results confirm that whereas most CSN
subunits are unstable in the absence of an intact CSN, CSN2 and
CSN4 cannot be reliably used as markers of CSN ablation,
because their stability is differentially affected in different csn null
mutants.
The MPN Subunits CSN5 and CSN6 Are Essential for the
Structural Integrity of the CSN Holocomplex
In wild-type Arabidopsis seedling extracts, CSN subunits cofrac-
tionate in high molecular mass fractions in gel filtration chroma-
tography (Figure 6A). The elution peak is centered between 450
and 550 kD and corresponds to the CSN complex. Besides the
CSN holocomplex, some CSN subunits can be found in smaller
molecular mass forms (ranging from 50 to 300 kD) in several
organisms, including mammals (Tomoda et al., 2002; Fukumoto
et al., 2005), Drosophila (Oron et al., 2002), fission yeast (Zhou
et al., 2001; Mundt et al., 2002), and Arabidopsis (Wei and Deng,
2003).
To investigate the fate of the CSN holocomplex in the complete
absence of both CSN5 subunits, we analyzed the gel filtration
profile of csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double null mutants. In agreement
with the severe reduction of several CSN subunits (Figure 5A, last
lane), longer exposure times were required to detect their
corresponding signals after gel filtration chromatography. Pro-
tein blot analyses with antibodies against each CSN subunit
Figure 6. Both MPN Subunits CSN5 and CSN6 Are Essential for Maintaining the Structural Integrity of the CSN Complex.
(A), (B), and (D) Immunoblot analyses of Superose 6 gel filtration chromatography fractions obtained from 13-d-old light-grown wild-type (A), CSN5
complete loss-of-function mutant (csn5a-1 csn5b-1) (B), or CSN6 complete loss-of-function mutant (csn6a-1 csn6b-1) (D) seedlings. Column fractions
were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analyses with anti (a)-CSN1, a-CSN4, a-CSN5, and a-CSN6 (A) or a-CSN1, a-CSN2, a-CSN3, a-CSN4,
a-CSN5, a-CSN6, a-CSN7, and a-CSN8 ([B] and [D]) polyclonal antibodies. Fraction numbers are indicated. Lane T contains the total unfractionated
extracts. The asterisks indicate total unfractionated wild-type extract. Loss of function of CSN5 (B) or CSN6 (D) in csn5a-1 csn5b-1 or csn6a-1 csn6b-1
double null backgrounds results in the disassembly of CSN subunits into CSN-independent subcomplex forms.
(C) CSN4 associates with CSN1 and CSN3 in csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double null mutant seedlings. Total soluble protein extracts (input) from 13-d-old wild-
type and csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double mutant seedlings were incubated with CSN4 antibody coupled to protein A-agarose (see Methods). The
immunoprecipitates (IP) were then separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with antibodies against CSN1, CSN3, CSN4, CSN6, TBP, and histone
H3, as indicated.
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 571
confirmed the absence of a CSN5-free large CSN complex in
csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double null seedlings (Figure 6B). In fact, CSN2,
CSN3, CSN4, CSN6, and traces of CSN7 exclusively or mostly
fractionate in low molecular mass fractions, ranging from 250 to
60 kD. Only the residual CSN1 subunit (whose accumulation is
reduced dramatically), traces of CSN3, and the first peak of
CSN4 elute in high molecular mass fractions that do not contain
CSN2, CSN5, CSN6, CSN7, and CSN8, possibly as a result of an
association with unknown proteins or self-aggregation. An iden-
tical situation has been observed in the case of csn8 (cop9) null
mutants. In fact, in csn8 mutants, CSN1 and CSN4 (plus traces of
CSN3) still elute in high molecular mass fraction that do not
contain any other CSN subunits (our unpublished data). To test
whether in csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double mutants CSN1, CSN3, and
CSN4 can still associate in the formation of a partial CSN com-
plex, we performed coimmunoprecipitation analyses using total
protein extracts obtained from the csn5a-1 csn5b-1 seedlings.
As shown in Figure 6C, CSN4 can efficiently pull down CSN1 and
CSN3, but not the negative control proteins, from the csn5a-1
csn5b-1 extract, indicating that CSN1, CSN3, and CSN4 asso-
ciate with each other in the absence of the other CSN subunits.
In the case of csn6a-1 csn6b-1 double null mutants (Figure
6D), whereas only residual CSN1 elutes in high molecular mass
fractions, CSN2, CSN3, CSN4, and CSN5 fractionate exclusively
in low molecular mass fractions, ranging from 250 to 60 kD. In the
case of CSN7 and CSN8, we have been unable to detect their
corresponding signals, in agreement with a dramatic reduction in
their accumulation levels in this mutant (Figure 5B, last lane).
All CSN Complete Loss-of-Function Mutants Share a Similar
Impairment in Cullin Derubylation
The six PCI subunit mutants identified by genetic screens for
constitutive photomorphogenic phenotype are virtually indistin-
guishable from the csn5 and csn6 complete loss-of-function
double mutant lines described in this study (Figure 7A). On this
basis, we investigated whether their identical phenotype re-
flected an identical impairment in cullin derubylation, the major
known biochemical function of CSN. We were also interested in
establishing the functional contribution of each CSN5 and CSN6
family member to the overall CSN biochemical activity. To this
end, we compared the rubylated/derubylated ratio of CUL1,
CUL3, and CUL4 in the single and double csn mutants. As shown
in Figure 7B, in the case of the CSN5 gene family (left panel),
CSN5A and CSN5B differentially contribute to the derubylation
activity observed in wild-type plants. In fact, whereas loss of
Figure 7. The Essential Role of the CSN in Cullin Derubylation as Well as the Maintenance of the Cellular Pools of CUL3 and CUL4.
(A) Phenotypes of 13-d-old white light–grown wild-type (left) and the set of eight csn complete loss-of-function mutant (right) seedlings, corresponding
to each CSN subunit. The six PCI subunit mutants shown correspond to cop/det/fus mutants identified by genetic screens (see Methods), as indicated
below the asterisks.
(B) Protein blot analyses of the wild type and csn5 single and double mutants (left panel), the wild type and csn6 single and double mutants (middle
panel), or the wild type and the six PCI subunit mutants shown in (A) (right panel), as indicated. Equal amounts of total proteins extracted from 13-d-old
white light–grown seedlings were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analyses with anti (a)-CUL1, a-CUL4, and a-CUL3 polyclonal antibodies.
a-CUL3 antibody recognizes both CUL3A and CUL3B isoforms. The a-RPN6 antibody was used as a loading control. Top arrows indicate rubylated
CUL1, CUL4, and CUL3, respectively, and bottom arrows indicate the un-rubylated forms. The asterisks indicate the complete loss-of-function
mutants.
572 The Plant Cell
CSN5B has no effects (Figure 7B, left panel, second lane),
reduction or loss of CSN5A results in significantly increased
levels of rubylated CUL1, CUL3, and CUL4 in seedlings (Figure
7B, left panel, third and fourth lanes). In the case of the CSN6
gene family, however, loss of either CSN6A or CSN6B does not
affect the derubylation of cullins (Figure 7B, middle panel, sec-
ond and third lanes).
As expected, in csn5a-2 csn5b-1 seedlings, the residual activ-
ity of CSNCSN5A results in compromised, but not abolished, CUL1,
CUL3, and CUL4 derubylation (Figure 7B, left panel, fifth lane).
Thiscorrelateswith theseverebutnot lethal phenotypeof csn5a-2
csn5b-1 double mutants, which can survive to the adult stage.
The total depletion of CSN5 (csn5a-1 csn5b-1) (Figure 7B, left
panel, last lane) or CSN6 (csn6a-1 csn6b-1) (Figure 7B, middle
panel, last lane), as well as each one of the six PCI subunits of the
CSN (Figure 7B, right panel), results in complete loss of deruby-
lation activity and the accumulation of CUL1, CUL3, and CUL4
exclusively in the rubylated forms. These data confirm that CSN
possesses the only activity able to deconjugate RUB/NEDD8
from cullins in Arabidopsis seedlings.
The Cellular Levels of CUL1, CUL3, and CUL4 Are
Differentially Affected by CSN Depletion
It is interesting that in seedling extracts, the total cellular level of
CUL1 remains almost unchanged and loss of a PCI or an MPN
subunit only induces a redistribution of CUL1 from the unmod-
ified to the modified form (Figure 7B). On the contrary, in the case
of CUL3, the lack of CSN activity results in a drastic decrease in
the total cellular pool of this cullin. In fact, in csn complete loss-
of-function mutants (Figure 7B, lanes indicated by asterisks),
whereas unmodified CUL3 is completely absent, RUB-CUL3 is
barely detectable. Interestingly, we observed an opposite effect
of CSN on the stability of CUL4. In fact, the absence of CSN
activity triggers a significant increase in the total cellular level of
CUL4 (Figure 7B, lanes indicated by asterisks) compared with
the level of CUL4 in the wild type.
Arabidopsis CUL3-Based E3 Ubiquitin Ligases Associate
with CSN and the Proteasome in Vivo
In Arabidopsis, it has been shown that CSN associates with and
regulates the activity of several SCF complexes (Schwechheimer
et al., 2001; Wang et al., 2003; Feng et al., 2003). Similarly,
Arabidopsis CSN interacts with a CUL4-RBX1-CDD E3 ubiquitin
ligase in vivo (Chen et al., 2006). Recently, it was shown that
Arabidopsis CUL3 associates directly with RBX1 and BTB pro-
teins to form multisubunit E3 ubiquitin ligases (Figueroa et al.,
2005; Gingerich et al., 2005; Weber et al., 2005). However, an in
vivo biochemical interaction between CSN and CUL3-RBX1–
based E3 complexes has not been reported. To test whether
CSN interacts physically with CUL3-based E3 ubiquitin ligases,
we first used a yeast two-hybrid assay (Figure 8A). Positive
interactions in the plate assay (Figure 8A) were tested again with
Figure 8. The in Vivo Association of CSN, CUL3-Based E3 Ligases, and the 26 Proteasome.
(A) In vitro interaction between Arabidopsis CUL3A, RBX1, and CSN subunits by yeast two-hybrid assay. Blue colonies indicate LacZ production and
thus protein interaction.
(B) Colonies that tested positive for interactions in (A) were subjected to liquid quantitative assays to verify the strength of the binding. Numbers shown
on the y axis are means of two experiments. For each experiment, the numbers on the y axis were calculated as mean values of at least six independent
transformants. Error bars represent SD.
(C) CSN specifically associates with the CUL3A-RBX1 E3 module in vivo. Total soluble protein extracts (input) from wild-type and FLAG-CSN1
transgenic seedlings were incubated with monoclonal anti-FLAG–conjugated agarose (a-FLAG; see Methods), and the immunoprecipitates (IP) were
separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with antibodies against CSN2, CSN3, CSN5, CSN6, CUL3, and RBX1. The control represents a protein
band recognized by a-CSN2 antibody.
(D) CUL3 specifically associates with CSN and the proteasome in vivo. Total soluble protein extracts (input) from wild-type seedlings were incubated
with CUL3 preimmune serum (preI) or with CUL3 and CUL1 antibodies coupled to protein A-agarose (see Methods), as indicated. The immunopre-
cipitates (IP) were then separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with antibodies against CUL3, RBX1, CSN4, CSN5, RPT5, RPN6, and TBP.
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 573
a liquid b-galactosidase activity assay (Figure 8B). As shown in
Figures 8A and 8B, CUL3A interacts with CSN2 and CSN4. In
addition, CUL3 binds to RBX1 (the conserved catalytic RING
subunit common to all classes of cullin-based E3s) but not to
CUL1 or COP1 (components of other classes of E3s ligases).
These results are consistent with the previously reported in vitro
interaction between CSN2 and CUL3A (Serino et al., 2003).
The specific in vivo association between CSN and BTB-CUL3-
RBX1 (BCR) E3 ubiquitin ligases was then investigated by
immunoprecipitation in a stable transgenic line expressing a
FLAG-tagged version of CSN1 (FLAG-CSN1) (Wang et al., 2002).
As shown in Figure 8C, FLAG-CSN1 can efficiently pull down the
CSN complex and consistently coimmunoprecipitate CUL3 and
RBX1. We further immunoprecipitated CUL3 and, as a positive
control, CUL1 from wild-type seedling protein extracts. As
predicted, CUL3, like CUL1, was capable of interacting specif-
ically with RBX1 and coimmunoprecipitating several CSN sub-
units, clearly demonstrating that CSN and BCR E3 ubiquitin
ligases can associate with each other in vivo.
It has been suggested that the E3 ligases could make physical
contact with the proteasome as part of their function in the
protein degradation process (Peng et al., 2003). Based on this
consideration, we tested whether CUL3 was able to coimmuno-
precipitate representative subunits of the 26S proteasome in
vivo. As shown in Figure 8D, CUL3, like CUL1, could efficiently
pull down a lid subunit (RPN6) and a base subunit (RPT5) of the
19S regulatory particles, indicating a strong physical association
between CUL1- and CUL3-based E3 ligase complexes, CSN,
and the proteasome.
Mutations in CUL3A or CUL3B Suppress the Pleiotropic
Phenotype of csn5a Mutants
Arabidopsis has two largely redundant CUL3 genes (CUL3A and
CUL3B), which together are essential for embryo development
(Figueroa et al., 2005; Gingerich et al., 2005; Tohmann et al.,
2005). However, when grown under normal conditions, the single
cul3a and cul3b mutants are virtually indistinguishable from their
wild-type siblings throughout their entire life cycles (Figueroa
et al., 2005). To gain new insight into possible developmental
pathways regulated by CUL3, we crossed the single cul3a and
cul3b mutants with the csn5a mutant, which exhibits impaired
CUL3 derubylation. Considering possible further analyses, we
used the weak csn5a-2 mutant, which is not lethal when com-
bined with csn5b. We generated two double homozygous mu-
tant lines: csn5a-2 cul3a and csn5a-2 cul3b. As a control, we
crossed the csn5b-1 mutant with cul3a and cul3b, generating
two double homozygous mutant lines, csn5b-1 cul3a and csn5b-1
cul3b. For each cross, to eliminate or reduce possible effects
attributable to the variability between different parental lines,
which might differ significantly in terms of allelic composition at
any given locus, we reisolated all relevant single and double
homozygous lines (including the wild type) from the same seg-
regating F2 population for comparative analysis.
Surprisingly, loss of either CUL3A or CUL3B results in the
suppression of the pleiotropic phenotype of csn5a-2 mutants
(Figures 9A to 9C). In fact, whereas the csn5a-2 mutant displayed
the characteristic phenotype shown in Figure 2, the double
csn5a-2 cul3a and csn5a-2 cul3b mutants are virtually indistin-
guishable from wild-type siblings in the dark and in all light
conditions, both at seedling (Figures 9A and 9B) and mature
(Figure 9C) stages. On the other hand, we could not detect any
genetic interaction between CSN5B and CUL3A or CUL3B. In
fact, the single csn5b-1, cul3a, and cul3b mutants and the double
csn5b-1 cul3a and csn5b-1 cul3b mutants did not show any
observable defects throughout their life cycle (Figure 9D; data
not shown).
Loss of Either CUL3A or CUL3B Function Results in the
Accumulation of Higher Levels of CSN5 Proteins
As shown in Figure 9D, protein gel blot analyses of double csn5b-1
cul3a and csn5b-1 cul3b mutants indicate that loss of CUL3A or
CUL3B does not affect CSN5A expression. On the contrary, in
the csn5a-2 cul3a and csn5a-2 cul3b backgrounds, loss of
function of CUL3A or CUL3B results in a significant increase in
the total amount of CSN5 with respect to the CSN5 level
observed in the csn5a-2 single mutant (Figure 10A, lanes indi-
cated by asterisks). Using an image-analyses software (http://
rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/), we estimated that loss of cul3a or cul3b
results in an increase of approximately fivefold to sixfold in the
cellular pool of CSN5.
Protein gel blot analyses of seedling extracts with antibody
against CUL3 confirmed that the loss of one (cul3a) or the other
(cul3b) functional CUL3 loci triggers a measurable reduction in
the cellular pool of CUL3, confirming that both genes contribute
to the maintenance of optimal CUL3 levels, even though muta-
tion in CUL3A seems to affect the pool slightly more at this
examined developmental stage (Figure 10A, middle panel, last
two lanes).
Not surprisingly, the increase in the cellular pool of CSN5 in the
csn5a-2 cul3a and csn5a-2 cul3b double mutants resulted in
improved derubylation of all three cullins (Figure 10A, middle
panel). In fact, the ratios of rubylated/un-rubylated CUL1, CUL3,
and CUL4 are lower in the csn5a-2 cul3a and csn5a-2 cul3b
mutants with respect to csn5a-2 (Figure 10A, middle panel, lanes
indicated by asterisks), particularly in the case of CUL1 and
CUL4. Thus, the increased accumulation of CSN5 is responsible
for ameliorating the csn5a-2 deficiency in cullin derubylation,
suppressing the csn5a-2 developmental defects at all stages.
Loss of CUL3A or CUL3B Does Not Significantly Affect
CSN5A and CSN5B Expression at the Transcriptional Level
To distinguish whether transcriptional or posttranscriptional
mechanisms were responsible for the observed changes in
CSN5 abundance, we performed semiquantitative RT-PCR anal-
yses on RNA extracted from wild-type and single and double
csn5 and cul3 lines (Figures 10B and 10C). In the case of CSN5A
transcript, csn5a-1 null mutants were used as negative controls
for the RT-PCR analysis (Figure 10B, fourth lane). We first used
a set of CSN5A-specific primers spanning the region 59 to the
T-DNA insertion (Figure 10B, top panel). We could not detect any
major change in the total level of CSN5A transcript between
csn5a-2 and csn5a-2 cul3a or csn5a-2 cul3b (lanes indicated by
asterisks). Subsequently, we used a set of primers spanning the
574 The Plant Cell
entire CSN5A coding sequence (Figure 10B, bottom panel). As
shown in Figure 1, the transcript of the csn5a-2 allele (which is
transcribed at wild-type levels) is correctly spliced into a full-
length CSN5A mRNA at low efficiency. Therefore, in the csn5a-2
background, the full-length CSN5A transcript is detectable only
after 35 cycles of PCR amplification (Figure 10B, bottom panel,
third lane). Once again, however, we observed no significant
difference in CSN5A expression levels between the csn5a-2
mutant and the csn5a-2 cul3a or csn5a-2 cul3b double mutant
lines (Figure 10B, bottom panel, lanes indicated by asterisks). As
shown in Figure 10C, similar results were obtained in the case of
the CSN5B transcript (lanes indicated by asterisks). A semi-
quantitative RT-PCR analysis (at 28 cycles or less) confirmed the
absence of significant changes in CSN5B expression and a very
minor change (;50%) in CSN5A transcript between the single
csn5a-2 and the double csn5a-2 cul3a or csn5a-2cul3b mutants.
Even though we cannot completely exclude the possibility that
subtle changes (below our detectable threshold) in CSN5 mRNA
expression might, at least in part, contribute to CSN5 accumu-
lation, the results shown in Figure 10 suggest that CUL3 affects
CSN5 abundance most likely at the posttranscriptional level.
DISCUSSION
CSN5 and CSN6 Subunits Are Essential for Plant Viability
and Development but with Distinct Functional
Diversification between Their Isoforms
In Arabidopsis, the two CSN MPN subunits, CSN5 and CSN6,
have escaped the genetic screenings that led to the identification
of the six PCI subunits. Here, we have undertaken a reverse
genetic approach to systematically identify and characterize
single and double null mutants in each of those two-gene
families. Our results demonstrate that, despite some degree of
divergence in their coding sequences, CSN6A and CSN6B
proteins are functionally equivalent in the regulation of plant
development at all stages (Figure 4). In fact, both in white light
and long-day conditions (16 h of light/8 h of dark), the two CSN6
subunits are completely redundant and the expression of only
one of the two genes is sufficient for full function. The CSN5 gene
family is somewhat different. In fact, CSN5A and CSN5B have
largely diverged in their ability to regulate plant development. In
agreement with their different expression levels (Figure 1F), we
Figure 9. CUL3A or CUL3B Loss of Function Results in the Suppression of the Pleiotropic Developmental Defects of the csn5a-2 Mutant.
(A) and (B) Genetic interaction between CSN5 and CUL3. Phenotypes (A) and hypocotyl elongation (B) of 5-d-old wild-type, csn5a-2, cul3a, and cul3b
single and double mutant seedlings grown in darkness or in different light qualities, as indicated (see Methods). Values shown represent means of 25
seedlings 6 SD. The colored boxes shown in (A) correspond to the genotypes indicated in (B).
(C) Loss of CUL3A or CUL3B suppresses csn5a developmental defects at all stages. Phenotypes of 8-week-old wild-type, csn5a-2, and cul3a single
and double mutant plants (left) or wild-type, csn5a-2, and cul3b single and double mutant plants (right), as indicated, grown in long-day conditions.
(D) Top panels, phenotypes of 4-d-old wild-type, csn5b-1, and cul3a single and double mutant plants (left) or wild-type, csn5b-1, and cul3b single and
double mutant plants (right) grown for 4 d in white light. Bottom panels, detection of CSN5 proteins from wild-type, csn5b-1, cul3a, and cul3b single and
double mutant plants, as indicated. Total protein extracts from 6-d-old white light–grown seedlings were subjected to SDS-PAGE and immunoblot
analyses with anti (a)-CSN5 polyclonal antibodies. Equal protein loading was confirmed using a-RPN6 antibody.
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 575
have shown that lack of CSN5B does not cause any obvious
defects in all conditions tested, whereas loss of CSN5A triggers
pleiotropic defects in multiple developmental processes at all
stages (Figure 2; see Supplemental Figure 1 online). Remarkably,
the pleiotropic phenotypes of csn5a-1 and csn5a-2 are reminis-
cent of the severe developmental defects caused by the overex-
pression of catalytically inactive CSN5A derivatives (Gusmaroli
et al., 2004).
Our early and current studies suggest that many aspects of the
csn5a mutant phenotypes are caused by a partial (csn5a-2) or
complete (csn5a-1) loss of CSN5A-mediated cullin derubylation,
likely resulting in a certain level of impairment in the ubiquitination
activity of multiple E3 ubiquitin ligases, such as SCFTIR1 (Gray
et al., 1999), SCFCOI1 (Xu et al., 2002), or CUL4-RBX1-E3 com-
plexes (Bernhardt et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2006), all of which
interact with CSN in the regulation of hormone- or light-mediated
responses (Schwechheimer et al., 2001; Feng et al., 2003; Chen
et al., 2006).
Nevertheless, the multifaceted developmental defects of
csn5a mutants are less severe than the fusca-type phenotype
of csn5a-1 csn5b-1 double null mutants (Figure 3). Indeed, the
residual derubylation activity observed in csn5a null mutants
(Figure 7B, left panel, fourth lane) reveals a minor role for low-
abundance CSN5B (and its CSNCSN5B complex) in cullin deru-
bylation. This finding implies that CSN5A is the predominantly
functional subunit, whereas CSN5B contributes to CSN5 func-
tion to a lesser extent, suggesting that the two CSN5 genes might
have experienced a dissimilar reduction of functions with respect
to the ancestor gene. Finally, we showed that the complete loss
of function of CSN5 or CSN6 results in severe abnormalities,
which lead to postembryonic lethality at the seedling stage
(csn5a-1 csn5b-1 [Figure 3A] and csn6a-1 csn6b-1 [Figure 4F]).
These findings demonstrate that, despite the fact that only CSN5
is catalytically active in cullin derubylation, both MPN subunits
are essential for plant viability and development.
Arabidopsis MPN Subunits Are Essential for CSN Assembly
or Stability
It was reported recently that, in Arabidopsis, a lethal csn5 double
mutant line (csn5a-2 csn5b-1) retains a CSN complex lacking
only its subunit 5 (Dohmann et al., 2005). However, we showed
here that the csn5a-2 allele used in that study is not a null allele
(Figures 1B and 1C, second lanes, and 1F, third lane). In fact, the
csn5a-2 csn5b-1 double mutants are not lethal at the seedling
stage (Figures 3A to 3C) and possess reduced levels of an intact
CSN complex containing a functional CSN5A subunit (Figure 3E).
To unambiguously determine the contributions of CSN5 and
CSN6 to the structure and function of the CSN complex, we
generated csn5 and csn6 double null mutant lines. We demon-
strated that the complete depletion of CSN5 or CSN6 results in
the loss of the CSN holocomplex and the redistribution of some
CSN subunits into subcomplex forms (Figures 6B and 6D),
accompanied by the instability of several subunits, including
CSN1, CSN3, CSN6, CSN7, and CSN8 (Figures 5A and 5B, last
lanes). Therefore, in Arabidopsis, the CSN complex is unstable in
the absence of one of its MPN subunits, even though residual
CSN1, CSN3, and CSN4 still associate with each other in a
complex (Figures 6B and 6C). This association of CSN1, CSN3,
and CSN4 in the csn5 double null mutants likely has an altered
stoichiometry or includes other proteins.
Together, our data are in agreement with previous findings that
CSN1 (FUS6), CSN6, and CSN8 (COP9) are unstable as free
forms and that their accumulation depends upon the formation of
Figure 10. Loss of CUL3A or CUL3B Activity Results in a Significant Increase in the Cellular Pool of CSN5.
(A) Protein blot analyses of the wild type and csn5 and cul3 single and double mutants, as indicated. Equal amounts of total proteins from 6-d-old white
light–grown seedlings were subjected to immunoblot analyses with anti (a)-CSN5, a-CUL1, a-CUL4, and a-CUL3 polyclonal antibodies. The a-RPN6
antibody was used as a loading control. Loss of either CUL3A or CUL3B results in CSN5 accumulation.
(B) and (C) Semiquantitative RT-PCR analyses of the wild type and csn5 and cul3 single and double mutants, as indicated. The positions of the gene-
specific primers used to selectively amplify the CSN5A (B) or CSN5B (C) transcripts are shown in Figure 1. Primers A1/A2 selectively amplify the full-
length CSN5A cDNA. A set of primers specific for ACT2 was used for sample calibration. Genomic DNA obtained from wild-type seedlings was used as
a positive control for PCR. The asterisks indicate the relevant genotypes for comparison.
576 The Plant Cell
an intact complex (Staub et al., 1996; Peng et al., 2001a, 2001b;
Wang et al., 2002). Similarly, it has been demonstrated that a re-
duction of CSN5 in CSN5 antisense/cosuppression plants leads
to a reduction in the level of the entire CSN (Schwechheimer
et al., 2001). Null csn1 (Wang et al., 2002), csn5, and csn6 mu-
tants display slightly different gel filtration patterns for CSN4 and
CSN7, which suggests that, although all three subunits are
required for the structural integrity of the CSN holocomplex, their
specific roles in complex assembly are not identical.
Because the gel filtration profiles of several CSN subcom-
plexes do not overlap completely (Figures 6B and 6D), it is
possible that other proteins associate with some of the CSN
subunits. In fact, the existence of small complexes containing
only one subunit of CSN, in association with other unknown
proteins, has been described for mammalian CSN5, CSN7, and
CSN8 (Fukumoto et al., 2005). In addition, several reports dem-
onstrated that specific CSN subunits, particularly CSN5, could
bind to interacting proteins in a CSN-independent manner (Wei
and Deng, 2003).
The Complete Collection of csn Mutants Highlights That
CSN Regulates All Major Classes of Known Cullin-Based
E3 Uqibuitin Ligases
With this study, we concluded the collection and analysis of
complete loss-of-function mutants in each one of the eight CSN
subunits and established the specific contribution of each CSN5
and CSN6 family member to the structure and function of the
complex as a whole. Our biochemical analyses demonstrated
that PCI and MPN subunits are structurally interdependent
during the formation of the COP9 complex, explaining why all
csn loss-of-function mutants share an identical phenotype (Fig-
ure 7A). Our data confirm that CSN function is essential for cullin
derubylation and to sustain the optimal activity of CUL1-, CUL3-,
and CUL4-based E3 complexes and suggest that the lethality
of csn mutants is triggered by the pleiotropic deregulation of
multiple ubiquitin-mediated pathways.
At this point, it would be interesting to establish what additional
CSN functions might contribute to the lethal phenotype of csn
loss-of-function mutants. In fact, several lines of evidence in
Arabidopsis (Wang et al., 2002) and yeast (Zhou et al., 2001;
Mundt et al., 2002) have demonstrated that there are other
essential functions of CSN independent from cullin derubylation.
However, because the loss of each CSN subunit results in the
loss of the entire complex, this important issue still remains
unanswered.
CSN5 and CUL3 Interact in Vivo and Reciprocally Regulate
Each Other’s Abundance
In this study, we have demonstrated that CSN interacts both in
vitro and in vivo with CUL3-RBX1–based E3 ubiquitin ligases
(Figure 8). We have also shown that CUL3-RBX1–based E3
complexes associate with the proteasome 19S regulatory par-
ticle in vivo, consistent with their function in substrate polyubi-
quitination and proteasome-mediated degradation (Figure 8D).
Interestingly, the complete lack of CSN activity results in a
drastic depletion of CUL3 in seedlings (Figure 7B, lanes indicated
by asterisks). In agreement with our findings, a recent report
showed that rubylated CUL1 and CUL3 are destabilized in
csn5Null and csn5D148N Drosophila mutant larvae, demonstrating
that CSN activity is required to prevent the degradation of
rubylated CUL3 (Wu et al., 2005). These results suggest that
CSN protects CUL1 and CUL3 from degradation only when it
possesses a reliable derubylation activity and highlight the idea
that RUB1 might function as a degradation signal for cullins.
However, our results showed that, in Arabidopsis seedlings, only
rubylated CUL3 is unstable whereas rubylated CUL1 is relatively
stable. Notably, CUL1 appears to be unstable in the flower tissue
of an Arabidopsis csn1 partial mutant (Wang et al., 2002),
suggesting that the stability of rubylated cullins may be regulated
in a tissue-specific manner. Moreover, the observation that loss
of function of CSN has an opposite effect on the stability of CUL4
emphasizes that cullin stability is regulated by specific mecha-
nisms and is not simply triggered by RUB/NEDD8 modification.
In the process of investigating possible physiological re-
sponses regulated by CUL3 during plant development, we
revealed a genetic interaction between CSN5 and CUL3 (Figures
9A to 9C). We have shown that a suboptimal dose of active CUL3
(attributable to either cul3a or cul3b loss of function) causes
CSN5 upregulation, most likely through a posttranscriptional
mechanism (Figure 10, lanes indicated by asterisks). Therefore,
whereas CSN activity is essential to positively regulate CUL3
function by protecting CUL3 from degradation, a robust CUL3
activity is required to negatively regulate CSN5 accumulation.
Because CSN5A is expressed at very high levels in wild-type
plants and in the single cul3a and cul3b mutants, the effect of
CUL3 reduction on CSN5 expression becomes evident only
when CSN5A is reduced dramatically (e.g., in csn5a-2 cul3a and
csn5a-2 cul3b backgrounds). Interestingly, CSN5A and CSN5B
possess a certain degree of divergence in their coding sequences
(Kwok et al., 1998) and incorporate into distinct CSN complexes
(Gusmaroli et al., 2004), which are present at very different levels
throughout plant development. Therefore, it is plausible to spec-
ulate that, in normal growth conditions, the activity of both cullins
is required to differentially regulate CSN5A and CSN5B expres-
sion. Even though we cannot rule out a possible indirect effect
on the control of CSN5 mRNA translation, an intriguing possibility
is that CUL3, as a component of E3 ubiquitin ligases, controls
CSN5 stability by targeting this subunit for degradation.
METHODS
Plant Materials and Growth Conditions
The wild-type Arabidopsis thaliana plants used in this study are the
Columbia-0 and Landsberg erecta ecotypes. The CSN5 and CSN6
T-DNA insertion lines SALK_063436 (csn5a-1), SALK_027705 (csn5a-2),
SALK_007134 (csn5b-1), SALK_146926 (csn6a-1), and SALK_036965
(csn6b-1) were identified in the SIGnAL database (Alonso et al., 2003).
The csn5a-1 and csn5a-2 T-DNA insertion mutants have lost the resis-
tance markers associated with their corresponding T-DNA insertions.
Both lines were crossed to wild-type plants before further investigations.
The phenotypes of csn5a-2 and csn5a-1 homozygous mutants cosegre-
gate in 100% of cases with the homozygous T-DNA insertion at the
CSN5A locus. In the case of csn5b-1, heterozygous T1 plants carrying
the csn5b-1 T-DNA insertion allele show a segregation ratio of 3:1
Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 577
kanamycin-resistant:kanamycin-sensitive in T2 progeny, indicative of a
single T-DNA insertion (Gusmaroli et al., 2004). The T-DNA insertion lines
in CUL3A (cul3a mutant) and CUL3B (cul3b mutant) have been described
previously (Figueroa et al., 2005). The cop/det/fus mutants used in this
study were fus6-1 (Wang et al., 2002), fus12-U228 (Serino et al., 2003),
fus11-U203 (Peng et al., 2001b), cop8-1 (Wei et al., 1994b), fus5-1 (Karniol
et al., 1999), and cop9-1 (Wei et al., 1994a).
Arabidopsis seedlings were surface-sterilized, cold-treated at 48C for 3
to 5 d, and then germinated on solid Murashige and Skoog medium with
Gamborg’s vitamins (Sigma-Aldrich) supplemented with 1% sucrose
(GM) in continuous white light (150 mmol�m�2�s�1) at 228C. To obtain adult
plants, 8- to 16-d-old seedlings were transferred to soil and grown under
long-day conditions (16 h of light/8 h of dark) in a controlled-environment
chamber at 228C.
Light and Hormone Treatments
For the hypocotyl elongation experiments shown in Figure 4 and Sup-
plemental Figure 1 online, 4-d cold-treated seeds were exposed to white
light for 12 h (150 mmol�m�2�s�1) and then transferred to continuous
darkness or white (150 mmol�m�2�s�1), far-red (4 mmol�m�2�s�1), red
(80 mmol�m�2�s�1), or blue (11 mmol�m�2�s�1) light. For the other analyses
shown in Supplemental Figure 1 online, growth conditions were as
follows. For root length measurements, 4-d cold-treated seeds were
germinated in continuous white light (150 mmol�m�2�s�1) on GM vertical
plates and root length was measured after 5 d. For auxin and jasmonic
acid treatments, 4-d cold-treated seeds were germinated in continuous
white light (150 mmol�m�2�s�1) on vertical Murashige and Skoog plates for
4 d and then transferred to vertical GM plates supplemented with 2,4-D as
indicated or with 2 mM jasmonic acid. Root length and number of lateral
roots were measured 4 d after transfer to the auxin-containing medium.
Root hairs were photographed at 4 d after transfer to jasmonic acid–
containing medium. In all cases, seedlings were grown in controlled
chambers at 228C.
PCR-Based Genotyping
DNA of the Arabidopsis T-DNA lines and their progeny was extracted and
screened for T-DNA insertions at the CSN5A, CSN5B, CSN6A, CSN6B,
CUL3A, and CUL3B loci. In each case, sets of forward and reverse gene-
specific primers, in combination with the T-DNA left border–specific
primer (Alonso et al., 2003), were used to selectively amplify the wild-type
or T-DNA insertion alleles at the locus of interest. In the case of csn5a-1,
csn5a-2, csn5b-1, csn6a-1, and csn6b-1 mutants isolated in this study,
the identity of PCR fragments was confirmed by sequencing. All crosses
using csn5a-1, csn5a-2, csn5b-1, csn6a-1, csn6b-1, cul3a, and cul3b
alleles were confirmed in F1 by PCR-based genotyping. In all cases, the
genotypes of the segregating F2 single and double homozygous mutants
(csn5a-1, csn5a-2, csn5b-1, csn6a-1, csn6b-1, cul3a, cul3b, csn5a-1
csn5b-1, csn5a-2 csn5b-1, csn6a-1 csn6b-1, csn5a-2 cul3a, csn5a-2
cul3b, csn5b-1 cul3a, and csn5b-1 cul3b) and their progeny were
confirmed by PCR-based genotyping.
RT-PCR Analyses
Total RNA was extracted from the wild type, the single csn5a-1, csn5a-2,
csn5b-1, csn6a-1, csn6b-1, cul3a, and cul3b mutants, and the double
csn5a-2 cul3a and csn5a-2 cul3b homozygous mutant lines using the
RNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen). For each genotype, 100 mg of fresh tissue
obtained from 10-d-old light-grown seedlings was used as starting
material. For semiquantitative RT-PCR analyses, before retrotranscrip-
tion, total RNAs were treated with DNase I (Roche) to eliminate possi-
ble traces of contaminant DNA. The DNase I treatments and RT-PCR
were performed as described previously (Gusmaroli et al., 2004). Sets of
primers specific for eEF-1A (gene identifier 837307) and Tsb1 (gene
identifier 835571) were used as positive controls for RT-PCR. For semi-
quantitative RT-PCR analyses, the cDNAs were first calibrated using
ACT2 (gene identifier 821411). Different sets of gene-specific primers
were used to selectively amplify the cDNA corresponding to each partic-
ular mRNA transcript. RT-PCR was performed at 25, 28, 35, and 38 cycles.
Protein Extraction, Immunoblot Analyses, and
Gel Filtration Chromatography
Protein extractions and immunoblot analyses were performed as de-
scribed previously (Gusmaroli et al., 2004). The protein concentration in
the supernatants was determined by Bradford assay (Bio-Rad). For gel
filtration analyses, 300 mg of total proteins was fractionated onto a
Superose 6 (HR10/30) protein liquid chromatography column (Amersham
Biosciences) and fractions were concentrated using Strataclean resin
(Stratagene), as described previously (Gusmaroli et al., 2004). In all cases
in which equal loading of the samples was required, the same samples or
the blots were probed with a-RPN6 to confirm equal loading. The
antibodies used in this study are as follows: CSN1 (Staub et al., 1996),
CSN2 (Serino et al., 2003), CSN3 (Peng et al., 2001a), CSN4 (Serino et al.,
1999), CSN5 (Kwok et al., 1998), CSN6 (Peng et al., 2001b), CSN7 (Karniol
et al., 1999), CSN8 (Wei et al., 1994a), RPN6 and RPT5 (Kwok et al., 1999),
TBP (Schwechheimer et al., 2001), RBX1 (Schwechheimer et al., 2002),
CUL1 (Wang et al., 2002), CUL3 (Figueroa et al., 2005), CUL4 (Chen et al.,
2006), and histone H3 (Upstate).
Yeast Two-Hybrid Assay
The full-length cDNA clones of RBX1 and COP1 were translationally fused
to the transcription activation domain of pJG4-5 (Origene Technologies).
The two-hybrid constructs of the CSN and CUL1 subunits fused to the
pJG4-5 activation domain and the CUL3A construct fused to the pEG202
LexA binding domain have been described previously (Schwechheimer
et al., 2001; Serino et al., 2003). The CUL3A-LexA fusion construct was
transformed into yeast strain EGY48 (Invitrogen). Activation domain
fusion constructs were transformed into yeast strain L40 (Invitrogen),
which contains a b-galactosidase reporter gene. The plate and liquid
assays were performed as described previously (Serino et al., 1999).
In Vivo Coimmunoprecipitation Analyses
For pull-down assays, Arabidopsis tissues were ground in liquid nitrogen
and subsequently homogenized in cold immunoprecipitation buffer
(25 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 150 mM NaCl, 5% glycerol, 0.05% Nonidet P-40,
2.5 mM EDTA, 1 mM phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, and 13 complete
cocktail of protease inhibitors). The total protein extracts were centri-
fuged twice at 13,000g for 15 min at 48C, and the supernatants were
filtered through 0.22-mm filters for use in immunoprecipitation assays. For
coimmunoprecipitation, 1.4 mg of total proteins was incubated for 4 h at
48C with 30 mL of monoclonal anti-FLAG antibody immobilized onto
agarose beads (Sigma-Aldrich) or with 30 mL of polyclonal CUL1, CUL3,
and CSN4 antibodies coupled to protein A-agarose beads (Sigma-
Aldrich). The antigene-antibody-protein A-agarose conjugates were
washed three times at 48C for 15 min in immunoprecipitation buffer and
centrifuged at 48C for 5 min at 3000 rpm between washes. The immu-
noprecipitates were subsequently released by boiling for 5 min in 23 SDS
sample buffer. Protein blot analyses were performed as described
previously (Gusmaroli et al., 2004).
Accession Numbers
Arabidopsis Genome Initiative locus identifiers for the genes mentioned in
this article are as follows: At3g18780 (ACT2); At3g61140 (CSN1);
578 The Plant Cell
At2g26990 (CSN2); At5g14250 (CSN3); At5g42970 (CSN4); At1g22920
(CSN5A); At1g71230 (CSN5B); At5g56280 (CSN6A); At4g26430 (CSN6B);
At1g02090 (CSN7); At4g14110 (CSN8); At4g02570 (CUL1); At1g26230
(CUL3A); At1g69670 (CUL3B); At5g46210 (CUL4); At5g60390 (EF-1A);
At1g06760 (histone H1); At3g42830 (RBX1); At1g29150 (RPN6);
At3g05530 (RPT5); At3g13445 (TBP); and At5g54810 (TSB1).
Supplemental Data
The following material is available in the online version of this article.
Supplemental Figure 1. Characterization of the Single csn5 Mutants
in Different Growth Conditions at Representative Developmental
Stages.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to Ning Wei and Sinead Drea for critical reading of the
manuscript. We also thank the Salk Institute Genomic Analyses Labo-
ratory for generating the sequence-indexed Arabidopsis T-DNA inser-
tion mutants and the Nottingham and Ohio Arabidopsis stock centers for
providing seeds of the corresponding lines. This research was sup-
ported by National Science Foundation 2010 Grant MCB-0519970 and
by National Institutes of Health Grant GM-47850 to X.W.D. G.G. was ini-
tially supported by a fellowship from the Universita’ degli Studi di Milano.
Received September 21, 2006; revised January 15, 2007; accepted
January 30, 2007; published February 16, 2007.
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Role of MPN Subunits in CSN Function 581
DOI 10.1105/tpc.106.047571; originally published online February 16, 2007; 2007;19;564-581Plant Cell
Giuliana Gusmaroli, Pablo Figueroa, Giovanna Serino and Xing Wang Deng Cullin3-Based E3 LigasesArabidopsisInteraction with
Role of the MPN Subunits in COP9 Signalosome Assembly and Activity, and Their Regulatory
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Supplemental Data /content/suppl/2007/03/15/tpc.106.047571.DC1.html
References /content/19/2/564.full.html#ref-list-1
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