SlH3 and SlH4 promote multicellular trichome formation and elongation by upregulating woolly in tomato.

ABSTRACT: Trichomes are tiny outgrowths on the plant epidermis that serve defensive purposes against various stresses. While the regulatory mechanisms underlying unicellular trichome development are well understood, those governing multicellular trichome formation remain largely unexplored. In this study, we reveal a new regulatory pathway involving the Hair3 (H3) and H4 genes, which encode C2H2 zinc finger proteins that participate in multicellular trichome development in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Using CRISPR-Cas9 to generate single- and double-knockout lines, we found that h3 and h4 single-mutant plants did not show altered trichome characteristics compared to wild-type plants. However, h3/h4 double-knockout plants displayed decreased densitie

SUBMITTER: Kim SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11908826 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature