Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2020, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (4): 468-474.DOI: 10.11983/CBB20057

• INVITED PROTOCOLS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Methods for Examining Transcription Factor-DNA Interaction in Plants

Liwen Yang,Shuangrong Liu,Yuhong Li,Rongcheng Lin()   

  1. Key Laboratory of Photobiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China
  • Received:2020-04-04 Accepted:2020-06-28 Online:2020-07-01 Published:2020-06-29
  • Contact: Rongcheng Lin

Abstract: Transcription affects the growth and development of plants through regulating the spatio-temporal expression of downstream genes. The interaction between transcription factors and DNA is a key section in the process of exploring transcriptional regulatory networks. In the past few years, researchers utilize yeast one hybrid (Y1H) and electrophoresis mobility shift assay (EMSA) to examine whether a transcription factor directly interacts with target DNA. In addition, transient luciferase activity assay provides a convenient method for researchers to test the regulation of transcription factors on downstream gene expression. In this paper, we elaborate the principles, methods, and advantages and limitations of Y1H, EMSA and transient luciferase activity assay, to provide technical references for exploring the transcription factor-DNA interactions.

Key words: transcription factor, DNA, Y1H, EMSA, transient luciferase activity assay