Project description:Auxin is a major plant hormone for both development and environmental adaptation. Auxin responses are context dependent and highly modulated by light, temperature, the circadian clock, brassinosteroid, and gibberellin, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that auxin signaling integrates with other signals through direct interactions of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR6 (ARF6) with PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4), the brassinosteroid-signaling transcription factor BZR1, and the gibberellin-signaling repressor RGA. ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq experiments show that ARF6, PIF4, and BZR1 bind to largely overlapping targets in the genome and synergistically activate gene expression. In vitro and in vivo assays show that ARF6-promoter binding is enhanced by PIF4 and BZR1 but blocked by RGA. Furthermore, a tripartite HLH/bHLH module feedback regulates PIF activity and thus modulates auxin sensitivity according to additional developmental and environmental cues. Our results demonstrate a central growth-regulation transcriptional network that coordinates hormonal, environmental, and developmental control of cell elongation and plant growth. Genome-wide identification of ARF6 DNA-binding sites in etiolated Arabidopsis seedlings.
Project description:Auxin is a major plant hormone for both development and environmental adaptation. Auxin responses are context dependent and highly modulated by light, temperature, the circadian clock, brassinosteroid, and gibberellin, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that auxin signaling integrates with other signals through direct interactions of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR6 (ARF6) with PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4), the brassinosteroid-signaling transcription factor BZR1, and the gibberellin-signaling repressor RGA. ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq experiments show that ARF6, PIF4, and BZR1 bind to largely overlapping targets in the genome and synergistically activate gene expression. In vitro and in vivo assays show that ARF6-promoter binding is enhanced by PIF4 and BZR1 but blocked by RGA. Furthermore, a tripartite HLH/bHLH module feedback regulates PIF activity and thus modulates auxin sensitivity according to additional developmental and environmental cues. Our results demonstrate a central growth-regulation transcriptional network that coordinates hormonal, environmental, and developmental control of cell elongation and plant growth.
Project description:Auxin is a major plant hormone for both development and environmental adaptation. Auxin responses are context dependent and highly modulated by light, temperature, the circadian clock, brassinosteroid, and gibberellin, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that auxin signaling integrates with other signals through direct interactions of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR6 (ARF6) with PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4), the brassinosteroid-signaling transcription factor BZR1, and the gibberellin-signaling repressor RGA. ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq experiments show that ARF6, PIF4, and BZR1 bind to largely overlapping targets in the genome and synergistically activate gene expression. In vitro and in vivo assays show that ARF6-promoter binding is enhanced by PIF4 and BZR1 but blocked by RGA. Furthermore, a tripartite HLH/bHLH module feedback regulates PIF activity and thus modulates auxin sensitivity according to additional developmental and environmental cues. Our results demonstrate a central growth-regulation transcriptional network that coordinates hormonal, environmental, and developmental control of cell elongation and plant growth.
Project description:Auxin is a major plant hormone for both development and environmental adaptation. Auxin responses are context dependent and highly modulated by light, temperature, the circadian clock, brassinosteroid, and gibberellin, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that auxin signaling integrates with other signals through direct interactions of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR6 (ARF6) with PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR4 (PIF4), the brassinosteroid-signaling transcription factor BZR1, and the gibberellin-signaling repressor RGA. ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq experiments show that ARF6, PIF4, and BZR1 bind to largely overlapping targets in the genome and synergistically activate gene expression. In vitro and in vivo assays show that ARF6-promoter binding is enhanced by PIF4 and BZR1 but blocked by RGA. Furthermore, a tripartite HLH/bHLH module feedback regulates PIF activity and thus modulates auxin sensitivity according to additional developmental and environmental cues. Our results demonstrate a central growth-regulation transcriptional network that coordinates hormonal, environmental, and developmental control of cell elongation and plant growth. Seedlings (Col-0 and iaa3) were grown on medium containing 2 µM propiconazole (PPZ) in the dark for 5 days and treated with mock or 100 nM BL for 4 hr before harvesting for total RNA extraction.
Project description:Land plants can reproduce sexually by developing an embryo from a fertilized egg cell. However, embryos can also be formed from other cell types in many plant species. A key question is thus how embryo identity in plants is controlled, and how this process is modified during non-zygotic embryogenesis. The Arabidopsis zygote divides to produce an embryonic lineage and an extra-embryonic suspensor. Yet, normally quiescent suspensor cells can develop a second embryo when the initial embryo is damaged, or when response to the signaling molecule auxin is locally blocked. Here we have used auxin-dependent suspensor embryogenesis as a model to determine transcriptome changes during embryonic reprogramming. We find that reprogramming is complex and accompanied by large transcriptomic changes prior to anatomic changes. This analysis revealed a strong enrichment for genes encoding components of auxin homeostasis and response among misregulated genes. Strikingly, deregulation among multiple auxin-related gene families converged upon re-establishment of cellular auxin levels or response. This suggests a remarkable degree of feedback regulation to create resilience in auxin response during embryo development. Starting from the transcriptome of auxin-deregulated embryos, we identify an auxin-dependent bHLH transcription factor network that mediates the activity of this hormone in suppressing embryo development from the suspensor.
Project description:Here we address that a mutation of EDM2 (Enhanced Downy Mildew 2), which is regarded as regulator of genome DNA methylation patterns, displays abnormal cotyledon number and shorted root length. Further, in early embryogenesis, edm2 shows embryonic developmental abnormalities, including the appearance of asymmetric embryos at the heart stage and unclear boundary between the spherical proembryo and suspensor cells. In addition, dysfunction of EDM2 alters the level of the auxin transporter PINs (PIN-FORMEDs), consistent with disordered distribution of auxin, which maybe the reason for developmental defect. Interestingly, analysis of high-throughput sequencing data show that the loss-of-function EDM2 exhibits the decreased expression of auxin polar transport-related gene PLT1 (PLETHORA 1), while methylation level and H3K9me2 enrichment in gene body are slightly higher than that in wide type. These results advance our understanding of EDM2 in establishment of auxin gradients through epigenetic modification and elucidate the roles of EDM2 in early embryogenesis.