| Type: | Family | Name: | GCR1-cAMP receptor |
| Description: | Heterotrimeric G protein-mediated signalling via activated 7-transmembrane (7TM) serpentine receptors is well known in a range of organisms, but evidence for the existence of this pathway in plants has been elusive. Over the years, however, evidence that G proteins are involved in signal transduction in plants has been accumulating, leading several researchers to seek plant 7TM receptors. The first tangible evidence for a plant 7TM receptor came through an analysis of the expresssed sequence tag database, dbEST. This revealed an Arabidopsis thaliana gene (GCR1) that encodes a protein with 7 predicted TM domains, and other features characteristic of known 7TM receptors [, ]. The amino acid sequence of GCR1, however, is unusual in that it shows similarity to receptors from three different 7TM families [, ], sharing greatest levels of similarity with the Dictyostelium cAMP receptors. It has been suggested that the cAMP receptors coordinate aggregation of individual cells into a multicellular organism, and regulate the expression of a large number of developmentally-regulated genes [, , ]. GCR1 is expressed at low levels in the roots, stems and leaves of Arabidopsis. Studies using transgenic Arabidopsis have suggested a functional role for GCR1 in cytokinin signal transduction []. | Short Name: | GCR1-cAMP_receptor |
