Subgroup-specific intrinsic disorder profiles of Arabidopsis NAC transcription factors: Identification of functional hotspots.

Protein intrinsic disorder (ID), referring to the lack of a fixed tertiary structure, is significant in signaling and transcription. We recently characterized ID in 6 phylogenetically representative Arabidopsis thaliana NAC transcription factors. Their transcription regulatory domains are mostly disordered but contain short, functionally important regions with structure propensities known as molecular recognition features. Here, we analyze for NAC subgroup-specific ID patterns. Some subgroups, such as the VND subgroup implicated in secondary cell wall biosynthesis, and the NAP/SHYG subgroup have highly conserved ID profiles. For the stress-associated ATAF1 subgroup and the CUC/ORE1 subgroup involved in development, only sub clades have similar ID patterns. For similar ID profiles, conserved molecular recognition features and sequence motifs represent likely functional determinants of e.g. transcriptional activation and interactions. Based on our analysis, we suggest that ID profiling of regulatory proteins in general can be used to guide identification of interaction partners of network proteins.