InterPro domain: IPR031066

This entry represents a group of plant helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors, including ALC, PIFs (phy-interacting factors) and SPATULA from Arabidopsis [ 1 , 2 ]. ALC enables cell separation in fruit dehiscence, the processes in which the fruit opens and releases the seed [ 3 ]. PIF1 regulates chlorophyll biosynthesis to optimise the greening process [ 4 ]. PIF5 is involved in ethylene biosynthesis and phytochrome signalling [ 5 ]. SPATULA plays a role in floral organogenesis [ 6 ].

1. The Arabidopsis basic/helix-loop-helix transcription factor family. Plant Cell 15, 1749-70
2. Genome-wide analysis of basic/helix-loop-helix transcription factor family in rice and Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. 141, 1167-84
3. The Arabidopsis myc/bHLH gene ALCATRAZ enables cell separation in fruit dehiscence. Curr. Biol. 11, 1914-22
4. PIF1 directly and indirectly regulates chlorophyll biosynthesis to optimize the greening process in Arabidopsis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 105, 9433-8
5. The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor PIF5 acts on ethylene biosynthesis and phytochrome signaling by distinct mechanisms. Plant Cell 19, 3915-29
6. CRABS CLAW and SPATULA, two Arabidopsis genes that control carpel development in parallel with AGAMOUS. Development 126, 2377-86