Potato StubSNF1 interacts with StubGAL83: a plant protein kinase complex with yeast and mammalian counterparts.

StubSNF1 is a potato cDNA that encodes a protein kinase similar to the yeast SNF1 gene involved in transcriptional regulation of glucose-repressible genes. The yeast SNF1 functions in a complex with GAL83/SIP1/SIP2 and SNF4 proteins. We have used StubSNF1 as bait in a yeast two-hybrid system to screen for potato cDNAs encoding proteins that bind to StubSNF1. Three overlapping cDNAs, two different in size, were isolated. DNA sequence analysis revealed that they were orthologues of the yeast GAL83/SIP1/SIP2 genes and their mammalian counterparts, AMPK beta-subunits. The direct interaction between the potato proteins StubGAL83 and StubSNF1 was shown by an in vitro binding assay. Southern and Northern hybridisations revealed that StubGAL83 exists in a low copy number in the potato genome and is highly (but organ-specifically) expressed in potato. In contrast, StubSNF1 possesses low transcript levels in each organ, except in flowers where high amounts of StubSNF1 mRNA could be detected. We demonstrate here that StubGAL83 can also interact with yeast SNF4 in a yeast two-hybrid system suggesting that plant SNF1 kinases may function in complexes similar to those detected in yeast and mammals.