Identification and characterization of interacting proteins of transcription factor DpWRI1-like related to lipid biosynthesis from microalga Dunaliella parva

Our previous study found that <i>Dunaliella parva</i> WRINKLED1-like (DpWRI1-like) was a key regulatory factor of lipid biosynthesis in <i>D. parva</i>. <i>DpWRI1-like</i> gene and target genes of DpWRI1-like have been obtained in our previous study, but the interacting proteins of DpWRI1-like are unclear now, which has limited a deep understanding of the function of DpWRI1-like. Yeast two-hybrid was widely used to identify protein-protein interaction. In this study, the interacting proteins of DpWRI1-like were obtained using yeast two-hybrid technique to further realize the role of DpWRI1-like. Three important interacting proteins have the following predicted activities: acyl-CoA-binding domain-containing protein 6 (interacting protein 1, ACBD6), duplicated carbonic anhydrase (interacting protein 2, DCA) and DNA-binding transcription factor (interacting protein 3, TF). Bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay further validated the interaction between DpWRI1-like and interacting proteins ACBD6 and DCA. The further bioinformatics analyses of interacting proteins were conducted. Protein-protein docking indicated the strong affinity between DpWRI1-like and three interacting proteins. Since interacting proteins have been found to be related to lipid biosynthesis in other organisms, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of DpWRI1-like in lipid synthesis. In conclusion, this study firstly reported three interacting proteins (ACBD6, DCA and TF) of DpWRI1-like related to lipid biosynthesis, and conducted their bioinformatics analyses, which would be conducive to a deep understanding of the function of DpWRI1-like in lipid biosynthesis.