%A Paul,Anna-Lisa %A Dension,Fiona %A Schultz,Eric %A Zupanska,Agata %A Ferl,Robert %D 2012 %J Frontiers in Plant Science %C %F %G English %K Arabidopsis,GRF,plant,Subcellular localization,14-3-3 isoform specificity %Q %R 10.3389/fpls.2012.00190 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2012-August-20 %9 Hypothesis and Theory %+ Dr Robert Ferl,University of Florida,Horticultural Sciences,1301 Fifield Hall,Gainesville,32611,FL,United States,robferl@ufl.edu %+ Dr Robert Ferl,University of Florida,Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research,Gainesville,FL,United States,robferl@ufl.edu %# %! 14-3-3 isoform functional specificity %* %< %T 14-3-3 phosphoprotein interaction networks – does isoform diversity present functional interaction specification? %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2012.00190 %V 3 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 1664-462X %X The 14-3-3 proteins have emerged as major phosphoprotein interaction proteins and thereby constitute a key node in the Arabidopsis Interactome Map, a node through which a large number of important signals pass. Throughout their history of discovery and description, the 14-3-3s have been described as protein families and there has been some evidence that the different 14-3-3 family members within any organism might carry isoform-specific functions. However, there has also been evidence for redundancy of 14-3-3 function, suggesting that the perceived 14-3-3 diversity may be the accumulation of neutral mutations over evolutionary time and as some 14-3-3 genes develop tissue or organ-specific expression. This situation has led to a currently unresolved question – does 14-3-3 isoform sequence diversity indicate functional diversity at the biochemical or cellular level? We discuss here some of the key observations on both sides of the resulting debate, and present a set of contrastable observations to address the theory functional diversity does exist among 14-3-3 isoforms. The resulting model suggests strongly that there are indeed functional specificities in the 14-3-3s of Arabidopsis. The model further suggests that 14-3-3 diversity and specificity should enter into the discussion of 14-3-3 roles in signal transduction and be directly approached in 14-3-3 experimentation. It is hoped that future studies involving 14-3-3s will continue to address specificity in experimental design and analysis.