The Arabidopsis () COP1/SPA ubiquitin ligase is a central repressor that suppresses light signaling in darkness by targeting positive regulators of the light response, mainly transcription factors, for degradation. Light inactivates COP1/SPA, in part by excluding COP1 from the nucleus. SPA proteins are essential cofactors of COP1, but their exact role in the COP1/SPA complex is thus far unknown. To unravel a potential role of SPA proteins in COP1 nucleocytoplasmic partitioning, we monitored the subcellular localization of COP1 in a quadruple mutant (). We analyzed a YFP-COP1-expressing transgenic line and endogenous COP1 after subcellular fractionation. In dark-grown seedlings, both YFP-COP1 and endogenous COP1 accumulated in the nucleus in the absence and presence of SPA proteins, indicating that SPA proteins are not required for nuclear localization of COP1 in darkness. In contrast, in white light-grown seedlings, mutants failed to relocalize COP1 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. Hence, SPA proteins are necessary for the light-controlled change in COP1 subcellular localization. We conclude that SPA proteins have a dual role: (1) they are required for light-responsiveness of COP1 subcellular localization, and (2) they promote COP1 activity in darkness in a fashion that is independent of the nuclear import/nuclear retention of COP1.

BackgroundPlants have evolved complex mechanisms to adapt growth and development to the light environment. The COP1/SPA complex is a key repressor of photomorphogenesis in dark-grown Arabidopsis plants and acts as an E3 ubiquitin ligase to ubiquitinate transcription factors involved in the light response. In the light, COP1/SPA activity is inhibited by photoreceptors, thereby allowing accumulation of these transcription factors and a subsequent light response. Previous results have shown that the four members of the SPA family exhibit partially divergent functions. In particular, SPA1 and SPA2 strongly differ in their responsiveness to light, while they have indistinguishable activities in darkness. The much higher light-responsiveness of SPA2 is partially explained by the much stronger light-induced degradation of SPA2 when compared to SPA1. Here, we have conducted SPA1/SPA2 domain swap experiments to identify the protein domain(s) responsible for the functional divergence between SPA1 and SPA2.ResultsWe have individually swapped the three domains between SPA1 and SPA2 - the N-terminal kinase-like domain, the coiled-coil domain and the WD-repeat domain - and expressed them in spa mutant Arabidopsis plants. The phenotypes of transgenic seedlings show that the respective N-terminal kinase-like domain is primarily responsible for the respective light-responsiveness of SPA1 and SPA2. Furthermore, the most divergent part of the N-terminal domain was sufficient to confer a SPA1- or SPA2-like activity to the respective SPA protein. The stronger light-induced degradation of SPA2 when compared to SPA1 was also primarily conferred by the SPA2 N-terminal domain. At last, the different affinities of SPA1 and SPA2 for cryptochrome 2 are defined by the N-terminal domain of the respective SPA protein. In contrast, both SPA1 and SPA2 similarly interacted with COP1 in light-grown seedlings.ConclusionsOur results show that the distinct activities and protein stabilities of SPA1 and SPA2 in light-grown seedlings are primarily encoded by their N-terminal kinase-like domains. Similarly, the different affinities of SPA1 and SPA2 for cry2 are explained by their respective N-terminal domain. Hence, after a duplication event during evolution, the N-terminal domains of SPA1 and SPA2 underwent subfunctionalization, possibly to allow optimal adaptation of growth and development to a changing light environment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-016-0854-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 (COP1) and members of the SUPPRESSOR OF PHYTOCHROME-105 (SPA) protein family form an E3 ubiquitin ligase that suppresses light signaling in darkness by polyubiquitinating positive regulators of the light response. COP1/SPA is inactivated by light to allow photomorphogenesis to proceed. Mechanisms of inactivation include light-induced degradation of SPA1 and, in particular, SPA2, corresponding to a particularly efficient inactivation of COP1/SPA2 by light. Here, we show thatSPA3 and SPA4 proteins are stable in the light, indicating thatlight-induced de-stabilization is specific to SPA1 and SPA2, possibly related to the predominant function of SPA1 and SPA2 in dark-grown etiolating seedlings. SPA2 degradation involves cullin and the CDD complex, besides COP1. Consistent with this finding, light-induced SPA2 degradation required the DDB1-interacting WD-repeat domain of SPA2. Deletion of the N-terminus of SPA2 containing the kinase domain led to strong stabilization of SPA2 in darkness and fully abolished light-induced degradation of SPA2. This prevented seedling deetiolation even in very strong far-red and blue light and reduced deetiolation in red light, indicating destabilization of SPA2 through its N-terminal domain is essential for light response. SPA2 is exclusively destabilized by phytochrome A in far-red and blue light. However, deletion of the N-terminal domain of SPA2 did not abolish SPA2-phytochrome A interaction in yeast nor in vivo. Our domain mapping suggests there are two SPA2-phytochrome A interacting domains, the N-terminal domain and the WD-repeat domain. Conferring a light-induced SPA2-phyA interaction only via the WD-repeat domain may thus not lead to COP1/SPA2 inactivation.