Sucrose regulated translational control of bZip genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Abstract

Sucrose can translationally regulate the expression of bZIP11 and four other S-class bZip transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. Sequence encoding 28 amino acids (SC-peptide) in the leader of the bZIP11 is sufficient to mediate sucrose induced translational control. A model proposes that sucrose repression is mediated through ribosomes that stall on the bZIP11 mRNA while synthesizing the SC-peptide. The stalled ribosomes efficiently block translation of the downstream bZIP11 main ORF.