CLEAVAGE AND POLYADENYLATION SPECIFICITY FACTOR (CPSF) SUBUNIT INTERACTION IN TOMATO, Solanum lycopersicum

Cleavage and polyadenyation is an important step in eukaryotic mRNA biogenesis that also controls gene expression. The process undergoes with interaction of poly(A) factors with the poly(A) sites and with each other. Among different poly(A) factors, Cleavage and Polyadenylation Specificity Factor (CPSF) has a central role in the process. Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, is an important member of the Solanaceae family and grown worldwide with high production. We investigated interaction of different CPSF subunits with each other and with some other proteins using TAP (tandem affinity purification) method in tomato. Four CPSF subunit genes were transformed in Agrobacterium followed by transformation in tomato callus. The interaction was studied by proteomics approach. Proteomics results have shown the interactions among CPSF subunits with each other and with other neighboring proteins that may have important implications in gene regulation eventually leading to the control of many biological processes such as flowering time. This further demonstrates that the 3 -end formation of mRNA involves extensive protein-protein interaction network which is coupled with other processes of mRNA biogenesis such as transcription, capping, splicing and translation.