RETRACTED ARTICLE: PPP1, a plant-specific regulator of transcription controls Arabidopsis development and PIN expression
Authors: Jeanette Moulinier-Anzola
Martina Ortbauer
Nenad Malenica
Barbara Korbei
Johannes Leitner
Inez Terpstra
Jürgen Kleine-Vehn
Ben Scheres
Elke Barbez
René Benjamins
Doris Lucyshyn
Christian Luschnig
Muhammad Asaf Khan
Haroon Butt
Journal: Scientific Reports (2016)
Discipline: Multidisciplinary
Keywords: Auxin transport; PIN proteins; transcription regulation; DNA binding protein; plant development
Affiliations: Department of Applied Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Muthgasse 18, 1190 Wien, Austria., Plant Developmental Biology, Wageningen University Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands., Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, 1090 GE Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract:  Directional transport of auxin is essential for plant development, with PIN auxin transport proteins representing an integral part of the machinery that controls hormone distribution. However, unlike the rapidly emerging framework of molecular determinants regulating PIN protein abundance and subcellular localization, insights into mechanisms controlling PIN transcription are still limited. Here we describe PIN2 PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN 1 (PPP1), an evolutionary conserved plant-specific DNA binding protein that acts on transcription of PIN genes. Consistent with PPP1 DNA-binding activity, PPP1 reporter proteins are nuclear localized and analysis of PPP1 null alleles and knockdown lines indicated a function as a positive regulator of PIN expression. Furthermore, we show that ppp1 pleiotropic mutant phenotypes are partially reverted by PIN overexpression, and results are presented that underline a role of PPP1-PIN promoter interaction in PIN expression control. Collectively, our findings identify an elementary, thus far unknown, plant-specific DNA-binding protein required for post-embryonic plant development, in general, and correct expression of PIN genes, in particular. 

Retracted: Yes

PubPeer comments:
 2021 retraction. https: www.nature.com articles s41598-021-87406-5 The Authors have retracted this Article. In follow-up experiments on this work, we noticed a mix up of transgenic lines expressing N- and C-terminally tagged PPP1 reporter constructs under the 35S promoter. All the lines presented in the manuscript in Figure 4iu2013n correspond to the identical N-terminally tagged 35S::GFP:PPP1 expression cassette, and the GFP signal localizes to nucleus and cytoplasm. Expression of this construct results in a limited rescue of the ppp1-476 seedling phenotypes. However, the level of complementation is not comparable to complementation by a C-terminally GFP-tagged version of the protein that is in fact localized to the chloroplast, as reported by Manavski et al. [1]. As such, we are unable to support the conclusions presented as a nuclear regulator of PIN expression. Renu00e9 Benjamins, Elke Barbez, Martina Ortbauer, Inez Terpstra, Doris Lucyshyn, Jeanette Moulinier-Anzola, Muhammad Asaf Khan, Johannes Leitner, Nenad Malenica, Barbara Korbei, Ben Scheres, Ju00fcrgen Kleine-Vehn Christian Luschnig agree with the retraction and its wording. Haroon Butt did not respond to the correspondence about the retraction. Reference 1. Manavski, N., Torabi, S., Lezhneva, L., Arif, M.A., Frank, W., Meurer, J. HIGH CHLOROPHYLL FLUORESCENCE145 Binds to and Stabilizes the psaA 5 UTR via a Newly Defined Repeat Motif in Embryophyta. Plant Cell 27, 2600u20132615, https: doi.org 10.1105 tpc.15.00234 (2015). ,