Functional analysis of KN1-type homeodomain protein

KNOX horaeodomain蛋白由植物中构成基因家族的knottedl-like homeobox（knox）基因编码。与动物同源结构域蛋白类似，KNOX蛋白被认为是植物茎尖分生组织器官发生相关基因表达的关键转录调控因子。因此，为了了解植物的发育过程，阐明KNOX蛋白调控基因表达的分子机制是非常重要的。在本研究中，我们研究了KNOX蛋白的结构特征和表达机制。通过对转基因植物的实验，发现KNOX蛋白OSH 15直接与GA生物合成酶GAC 20氧化酶基因中内含子1的特异序列相互作用，抑制其表达。

KNOX horaeodomain proteins are encoded by knottedl-like homeobox (knox) genes that constitute a gene family in plants. Similar to the animal homeodomain proteins, KNOX proteins are consider ed to be key transcriptional regulators that control the expression of genes involved in plant organogenesis at the shoot apical meristemi Therefore, in order to understand the developmental processes in plants, it is important to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying KNOX pro tein regulation of gene expression. In thip study, we investigated the structural features and the mechanisms for expression of KNOX proteins. Through the experiments with transgenic plants, a KNOX protein, OSH15, directly interacts with the specific sequence of intron 1 in the gene e needing GA biosynthetic enzyme, GAC20 oxidase and suppresses its expression.