CONSTANS Transcription Factor Family

The CO gene was originally defined by an allelic series of mutants that flower late in LD and do not respond to photoperiod . CO has subsequently been shown to encode a transcription factor that plays a central role in the photoperiod detection mechanism acting between the circadian clock and genes controlling meristem identity. Griffiths et al. (2003) have defined the CO-like gene family by the presence of two conserved domains: a Zn-finger region near the N-terminus that resembles B-box domains and a region near the C-terminus called the CCT domain (Putterill et al., 1995). Using this definition, Griffiths et al. (2003) have shown that CO is part of a 17-member gene family in Arabidopsis that consists of three broad groups. Group I genes, which include CO, have two Zn-finger B-boxes near the N- terminus . Group II genes have one B-box, and Group III genes have one B-box and a second diverged Zn-finger. Mutants that affect CO function map to both the B-box and the CCT domain. Notes: CONSTANS is missed in PlantTFDB and PlnTFDB.
  • 64 predicted putative CONSTANS TF peptide, CDS, and cDNA sequences; blast HSP output, multiple sequence alignment, and phylogeny tree in Legume TFKB.
  • Please see CCT and ZF-B domains on C2C2-CO-like TF family.
    Last updated by Dr. Jeff Chen on July 15, 2009.