Integrated analysis of co-expressed MAP kinase substrates in Arabidopsis thaliana

摘要

MAP kinase (MAPK) signal transduction cascades are conserved eukaryotic pathways that modulate stress responses and developmental processes. In a recent report we have identified novel Arabidopsis MAPKK/MAPK/Substrate signaling pathways using microarrays containing 2,158 unique Arabidopsis proteins. Subsequently, several WRKY and TGA targets phosphorylated by MAPKs were verified in planta. We have also reported that specific MAPKK/MAPK modules expressed in Nicotiana bentha-miana induced a cell deathphenotype related to the immune response. We have generated a MAPK phosphorylation network based on our protein microarray experimental data. Here we further analyze our network by integrating phosphorylation and gene expression information to identify biologically relevant signaling modules. We have identified 108 phosphorylation events that occur among 96 annotated genes with highly similar pairwise expression profiles. Our analysis brings a new perspective on MAPK signaling by revealing new relationships between components of signaling pathways.