AtBS14a and AtBS14b, two Bet1/ Sft1-like SNAREs from Arabidopsis thaliana that complement mutations in the yeast SFT1 gene

Abstract

SNAREs are membrane-associated proteins that play a central role in vesicle targeting and intra-cellular membrane fusion reactions in eukaryotic cells. Here we describe the identification of AtBS14a and AtBS14b, putative SNAREs from Arabidopsis thaliana that share 60% amino acid sequence identity. Both AtBS14a and BS14b are dosage suppressors of the temperature-sensitive growth defect in sft1-1 cells and over-expression of either AtBS14a or AtBS14b can support the growth of sft1Δ cells but not bet1Δ cells. These data together with structure–function and biochemical studies presented herein suggest that AtBS14a and AtBS14b share properties that are consistent with them being members of the Bet1/Sft1 SNARE protein family.