Cell Cycle Regulation of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases in Tobacco Cultivar Bright Yellow-2 Cells

Plants possess two major classes of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) with cyclin-binding motifs PSTAIRE (CDK-a) and PPTA/TLRE (CDK-b). Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv Bright Yellow-2) cells are the most highly synchronizable plant culture, but no detailed analysis of CDK activities has been reported in this system. Here we describe isolation of new PPTALRE CDKs (Nicta;CdkB1) from Bright Yellow-2 cells and present detailed analysis of the mRNA, protein and kinase activity levels of CdkB1, and the PSTAIRE CDKA during the growth and cell cycles. CdkA and CdkB1 transcripts are more abundant in exponential than in stationary phase cells, but the two genes show strikingly different regulation during the cell cycle. CdkA mRNA and protein accumulate during G1 in cells re-entering the cell cycle, and immunoprecipitated histone H1 kinase activity increases at the G1/S boundary. Aphidicolin synchronized cells show the highest CDKA-associated histone H1 kinase activity during S-G2 phases, although CdkA mRNA and protein levels are not significantly regulated. In contrast, CdkB1 transcripts are present at very low levels until S phase and CDKB1 protein and kinase activity is almost undetectable in G1. CdkB1 mRNA accumulates through S until M phase and its associated kinase activity peaks at the G2/M boundary, confirming that transcription of PPTALRE CDKs is cell cycle regulated. We suggest that CDKA kinase activity likely plays roles at the G1/S phase boundary, during S phase, and at the G2/M phase transition, and that CDKB1 kinase activity is present only at G2/M.