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Synthetic hypomorphic alleles to study MUTE-dependent molecular transitions in stomatal development.

ABSTRACT: Stomatal abundance sets the plant potential for gas exchange, impacting photosynthesis and transpiration, and ultimately, plant survival and growth. Stomata originate from cell lineages initiated by asymmetric divisions of protodermal cells, producing meristemoids that develop into guard cell pairs. The transcription factors SPEECHLESS, MUTE, and FAMA are essential for stomatal lineage development, sequentially driving cell division and differentiation events. Their absence produces stomataless epidermis, hindering analysis of their roles during lineage development. MUTE drives the transition from proliferating meristemoids to stomata commitment. We aim to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying MUTE activity, using partial loss-of-function alleles predicted to impair DNA-binding and potentially alter the expression of MUTE transcriptional targets. We engineered mutant allele coding sequences, generated Arabidopsis lines carrying these alleles and analyzed their epidermal and transcriptional phenotypes using microscopy and RNAseq. Synthetic alleles driven by the MUTE promoter rescued the stomataless phenotype of the seedling-lethal mute-3 mutant, enabling stomata differentiation and resulting in viable, fertile plants. Further examination of the developmental consequences of MUTE partial loss-of-function revealed arrested lineages, reduced stomatal abundance and altered stomatal spacing. Transcriptomic analysis of very young cotyledons from complemented lines indicated that some MUTE targets, but not others, require an intact MUTE bHLH domain. Comparison with existing lineage cell-specific transcriptional profiles showed that lineage development in the mutant lines was delayed compared to the wild-type but followed similar gene networks. These synthetic alleles provide new insight into MUTE ability to accurately and timely specify stomata formation.

ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana

PROVIDER: GSE272620 | GEO | 2025/06/24

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Stomata are pores in the epidermis of plants that can open and close and allow for gas exchange vital for photosynthesis and regulate transpiration. Stomatal development is driven by a set of conserved bHLH transcription factors (SPCH, MUTE, FAMA, and their heterodimerization partners ICE1, SCRM2), that initiate and promote progression of cell fates in the stomatal lineage. Due to the shared ancestry of SPCH, MUTE and FAMA (subgroup Ia) and ICE1 and SCRM2 (subgroup IIIb) their DNA binding specificity is similar and there is some functional redundancy. However, individual bHLHs also have unique functions. For example, SPCH is required for initiation of the stomatal lineage, while FAMA is responsible for terminal differentiation of the guard cell pair. In grasses, the stomatal complex comprises the guard cell pair, and two flanking subsidiary cells. Recruitment of the latter from neighboring cell filed during development requires expression of MUTE. Remarkably, while MUTE is absolutely required for the promotion of guard mother cell fate in maize and rice, this is not the case in Brachypodium. This suggests that another TF can at least partially substitute for MUTE in this function. While different expression profiles of the bHLH dimers within the stomatal lineage may partially responsible for distinct functions of each pair, it is likely that each pair forms different transcriptional complexes and that interaction with other transcriptional regulators affects the dimer’s binding DNA binding and gene regulation properties. Given the differences in bHLH function between dicots and grasses and even within the grass family, we were interested in elucidating the protein interaction networks of the stomatal lineage regulators in Brachypodium. To this end, we performed co-immunoprecipitation coupled to LC-MS/MS of BdSPCH2-YFP, YFP-BdMUTE, YFP-BdFAMA, YFP-ICE1 and YFP-SCRM2 from the developmental zone of young B. distachyon leaves using GFP-Trap beads. All YFP-fusion proteins were expressed under the endogenous promoter in the Bd21-3 background. The only exception was BdICE1, which was expressed under the ZmUBI promoter, but was nevertheless mostly restricted to the stomatal lineage. As control lines we use the Bd21-3 wild type and a line expressing 3x YFPnls (nuclear YFP) under the MUTE promoter. Comparison of proteins enriched with the bHLH fusion proteins vs. the controls revealed overlapping and distinct putative interactors, which is in agreement with the assumption that these transcription factors have both shared and unique functions. Notably, in addition to the presumed hetero-dimerization partners, we found a number of other bHLH transcription factors that were identified with one or more of the bait proteins. This suggests the presence of a larger bHLH network acting in the stomatal lineage.

Project description:Stomata are pores in the epidermis of plants that can open and close, allowing for gas exchange with the environment, vital for photosynthesis, and regulating transpiration. They are formed from protodermal cells by a series of asymmetric and symmetric divisions and differentiation steps. Initiation into and progression within the stomatal lineage are driven by the consecutive expression and action of three sets of bHLH transcription factor dimers (SPCH, MUTE, FAMA plus their heterodimer partners SCRM or SCRM2) and is accompanied by massive changes in the transcriptome as well as the chromatin landscape. Strong shifts in chromatin accessibility have been observed specifically at the initiation stage and at the transition from division to differentiation. In line with this, FAMA, which promotes the differentiation of stomata, has been shown to interact with RBR, which can recruit the repressive PRC2 complex, to shut down the early stomatal lineage transcriptional program. Interestingly, several of the stomatal lineage bHLHs bind chromatin regions that are closed/inaccessible in a primordial state (the shoot apical meristem). This suggests that the stomatal lineage bHLHs could be able to access closed chromatin and that they might also be directly involved in opening (and closing) of chromatin at a subset of their target regions. In order to test this hypothesis and identify chromatin modifiers that associate with the stomatal lineage bHLH dimers, we did proximity labeling with TurboID fused to SCRM, which is expressed throughout the stomatal lineage and is the main heterodimerization partner of SPCH, MUTE and FAMA. We identified a number of proteins acting as chromatin modifiers and remodelers, including the histone acetyl transferase HAC1, which deposits activating marks on nucleosomes, and multiple subunits of the ATPase-dependent chromatin remodeling SWI/SNF complex. Together, these data support a role of SCRM and its partners in regulating target gene accessibility to impose lasting changes in gene expression within the stomatal lineage.

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Synthetic hypomorphic alleles to study MUTE-dependent molecular transitions in stomatal development.

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