A DHHC-type zinc finger protein gene regulates shoot branching in Arabidopsis

Formation of plant architecture is a complicated biological phenomenon and is influenced by a variety of factors such as genotype, hormone, environment and nutrition. In this study, an activation-tagging mutant, scc10-D (suppressor of cry1cry2) grown in long-day (16-h light/8-h dark) condition showed enhanced shoot branching. The mRNA expression of six genes adjacent to the T-DNA insertion locus were analyzed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and the transcript level of a DHHC-type zinc finger protein gene, At5g04270, was found to increase markedly in the scc10-D mutant. The At5g04270 gene was then cloned and over-expressed in Arabidopsis. It was found that the At5g04270 over-expression lines had the features of enhanced shoot branching, while the T-DNA mutant of At5g04270 gene, SALK_006515, showed decreased shoot branching when compared to the wild type (WT). These results suggest that At5g04270 plays an important role in regulating shoot branching in Arabidopsis.