Transcription factors play important roles in several physiological processes. In recent years many transcription factors have been isolated from plants and they are emerging as powerful tools in the manipulation of plant traits. In this work we initiated studies in order to isolate transcription factors from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an important tropical and subtropical crop. Our results show three kinds of proteins expressed differentially in cassava storage root and immunologically related to the opaque-2 transcription factor from maize. Southwestern experiments showed two proteins capable of interacting in vitro with the DNA sequence of the be2S1 gene from the Brazil nut tree.
bZIP; cis-acting elements; expression; gene regulation; opaque-2; Southwestern