Tandem CCCH Zinc Finger Proteins in Plant Growth, Development and Stress Response

Cysteine3Histidine (CCCH)-type zinc finger proteins comprise a large family that is well conserved across eukaryotes. Among them, tandem CCCH zinc finger proteins (TZFs) play critical roles in mRNA metabolism in animals and yeast. While there are only three TZF members in humans, a much higher number of TZFs has been found in many plant species. Notably, plant TZFs are over-represented by a class of proteins containing a unique TZF domain preceded by an arginine (R)-rich (RR) motif, hereafter called RR-TZF. Recently, there have been a large number of reports indicating that RR-TZF proteins can localize to processing bodies (P-bodies) and stress granules (SG), two novel cytoplasmic aggregations of messenger ribonucleoprotein complexes (mRNPs), and play critical roles in plant growth, development and stress response, probably via RNA regulation. This review focuses on the classification and most recent development of molecular, cellular and genetic analyses of plant RR-TZF proteins.