Rand, K., Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel, Department of Plant Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Kobrinsky-Aaronowitz, I., Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Levy, Y., Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel
Shaul, O., The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
Aloni, R., Department of Plant Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Gafni, Y., Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, Bet Dagan, Israel, The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

Macromolecules may transfer between the cytoplasm and the nucleus only through specific gates-the nuclear pore complexes (NPCs). Translocation of nucleic acids and large proteins requires the presence of a nuclear localization signal (NLS) within the transported molecule. This NLS is recognized by a class of soluble transport receptors termed karyopherins α and β. We previously characterized the expression pattern of the tomato karyopherin α1 (LeKAPα1) promoter in transformed tobacco plants. Expression of LeKAPα1 was mainly observed in growing tissues where cell division and extension is rapid. The expression pattern of LeKAPα1 resembled that of auxin-responsive genes. This led us to suggest that auxin participates in the regulation of LeKAPα1 expression. Here we characterized the correlation between auxin level and the activity of the LeKAPα1 promoter. To this end, transgenic tobacco plants carrying the GUS reporter gene under the control of the LeKAPα1 promoter were treated with various levels of exogenous auxin. We also studied transgenic plants in which we increased the endogenous levels of auxin. For this, we expressed in plants both the LeKAPα1 promoter-GUS reporter and the Agrobacterium tumefaciens iaaM gene, which increases the endogenous levels of auxin. The results indicate that the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) can induce LeKAPα1 expression. We also identified that the sites and levels of LeKAPα1 expression correlated with the endogenous pathways of polar auxin transport. © 2011 Landes Bioscience.