[Structure and function of plant C2H2 zinc finger protein].

Zinc finger protein is one of the important transcription factors with zinc finger domain that regulates gene expression in the eukaryotic organisms mainly by specifically interacting with target DNA sequence(cis-acting element). It could be divided into several types of zinc finger proteins, such as C2H2, C2HC, C2C2, C2HCC2C2, C2C2C2C2 etc, based on numbers and positions of Cys and His residues. Of these, C2H2 type zinc finger protein is the most clearly identified zinc finger transcription factor, with the wide existence in human, animals and plants. The characterized plant C2H2 zinc finger proteins are mainly involved in plant growth and development and the responses to environmental stresses. Up to now, more than 50 C2H2 zinc finger proteins have been reported in plants including petunia, Arabidopsis, wheat and rice, and most of them have the plant-specific QALGGH motif in zinc finger domain. This paper briefly introduces the structure, recognition of target-DNA sequence and functions involved in development or environmental stresses of plant C2H2 zinc finger proteins.