Lectin receptor kinase LecRK-b2 localizes to plasma membrane and functions as a homdimer

An Arabidopsis putative lectin receptor-like serine/threonine kinase gene, LecRK-b2, has been characterized. Confocal microscopy images showed that the LecRK-b2-GFP fusion protein is localized to plasma membrane. The results of yeast 2 hybrid showed that lectin domain of LecRK-b2 had selfinteraction, while the kinase domain did not work. Split luciferase complementation assays confirmed the yeast two hybrid results and suggested that lectin domain was responsible for the dimerization of LecRK-b2 protein in plant. Furthermore, the recombinant LecRK-b2 protein exhibited autophosphorylation activity.