text: ATR regulates a G2-phase cell-cycle checkpoint in Arabidopsis thaliana.
  Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated and Rad3-related (ATR) plays a central role in cell-cycle regulation, transmitting DNA damage signals to downstream effectors of cell-cycle progression. In animals, ATR is an essential gene. Here, we find that Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) atr-/- mutants were viable, fertile, and phenotypically wild-type in the absence of exogenous DNA damaging agents but exhibit altered expression of AtRNR1 (ribonucleotide reductase large subunit) and alteration of some damage-induced cell-cycle checkpoints. atr mutants were hypersensitive to hydroxyurea (HU), aphidicolin, and UV-B light but only mildly sensitive to gamma-radiation. G2 arrest was observed in response to gamma-irradiation in both wild-type and atr plants, albeit with slightly different kinetics, suggesting that ATR plays a secondary role in response to double-strand breaks. G2 arrest also was observed in wild-type plants in response to aphidicolin but was defective in atr mutants, resulting in compaction of nuclei and subsequent cell death. By contrast, HU-treated wild-type and atr plants arrested in G1 and showed no obvious signs of cell death. We propose that, in plants, HU invokes a novel checkpoint responsive to low levels of deoxynucleotide triphosphates. These results demonstrate the important role of cell-cycle checkpoints in the ability of plant cells to sense and cope with problems associated with DNA replication.
entities.id: T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 T15 T16 T17 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
entities.type: GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y GENE-Y
entities.text: AtRNR1 ribonucleotide reductase large subunit ATR atr atr ATR atr ATR deoxynucleotide triphosphates hydroxyurea HU aphidicolin aphidicolin Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated and Rad3-related atr ATR atr