GRAS-domain transcription factors that regulate plant development

Abstract Cryptochromes (CRYs) are UVA and blue light photoreceptors present in all major evolutionary lineages ranging from cyanobacteria to plants and animals, including mammals. In plants, blue light activates CRYs to induce photomorphogenesis by inhibiting the CRL4Cop1 E3 ligase complex which regulates the degradation of critical transcription factors involved in plant development and growth. However, in mammals, CRYs do not physically interact with Cop1, and of course mammals are not photomorphogenic, leading to the belief that the CRY–Cop1 axis is not conserved in mammals. This belief was recently overturned by Rizzini et al., who showed that although mammalian CRYs do not inhibit Cop1 activity in a light-dependent manner, they antagonize Cop1 activity by displacing Cop1 from CRL4 E3 ligase complex. Because CRYs oscillate, they act in a circadian manner resulting in daily oscillations in Cop1 substrates and the downstream pathways that they regulate. The conserved antagonism of Cop1 by CRY indicates that the CRY–Cop1 axis has an ancient origin, and was repurposed by evolution to regulate photomorphogenesis in plants and circadian rhythms in mammals.

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Besides and beyond Flowering: Other Roles of EuAP2 Genes in Plant Development

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes10120994 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 994

Author(s):

Charles U. Solomon ◽

Sinéad Drea

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factors ◽

Expression Profile ◽

Plant Development ◽

Flower Development ◽

Pleiotropic Effects ◽

Flowering Genes ◽

Founding Member ◽

Development Processes ◽

Universal Expression

EuAP2 genes are well-known for their role in flower development, a legacy of the founding member of this subfamily of transcription factors, whose mutants lacked petals in Arabidopsis. However, studies of euAP2 genes in several species have accumulated evidence highlighting the diverse roles of euAP2 genes in other aspects of plant development. Here, we emphasize other developmental roles of euAP2 genes in various species and suggest a shift from regarding euAP2 genes as just flowering genes to consider the global role they may be playing in plant development. We hypothesize that their almost universal expression profile and pleiotropic effects of their mutation suggest their involvement in fundamental plant development processes.

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Physical Forces Regulate Plant Development and Morphogenesis

Current Biology ◽

10.1016/j.cub.2014.03.014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 24 (10) ◽

pp. R475-R483 ◽

Cited By ~ 95

Author(s):

Arun Sampathkumar ◽

An Yan ◽

Pawel Krupinski ◽

Elliot M. Meyerowitz

Keyword(s):

Plant Development ◽

Physical Forces ◽

Regulate Plant Development

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From leaf to flower: revisiting Goethe's concepts on the ¨metamorphosis¨ of plants

Brazilian Journal of Plant Physiology ◽

10.1590/s1677-04202005000400001 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 335-344 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Marcelo Carnier Dornelas ◽

Odair Dornelas

Keyword(s):

Plant Development ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Molecular Model ◽

Scientific Work ◽

Floral Organ ◽

Molecular Networks ◽

Organ Identity ◽

Theoretical Frame ◽

Regulate Plant Development

Goethe’s seminal scientific work, Versuch die Metamorphose der Pflanzen zu erklaren (An Attempt to Interpret the Metamorphosis of Plants) dated from 1790, has created the foundations for many domains of modern plant biology. The archetypal leaf concept, which considers floral organs as modified leaves, besides being the best known has been proven true, following the description of the ABC molecular model of floral organ identity determination during the last decade. Here we analyze the whole theoretical frame of Goethe’s 1790 publication and present two previously misconsidered aspects of this work: The "refinement of the sap" concept as a directional principle and the "cycles of contractions and expansions" as cycles of differential determination of the shoot apical meristem. The reinterpretation of these concepts are in line with the modern view that molecular networks integrate both environmental and endogenous cues and regulate plant development. This reassessment also helps to elaborate a theoretical frame that considers the evolutionary conservation of the molecular mechanisms that regulate plant development.

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Author response: Synthetic hormone-responsive transcription factors can monitor and re-program plant development

10.7554/elife.34702.032 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Arjun Khakhar ◽

Alexander R Leydon ◽

Andrew C Lemmex ◽

Eric Klavins ◽

Jennifer L Nemhauser

Keyword(s):

Transcription Factors ◽

Plant Development ◽

Author Response

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Role Of WOX And KNOX Transcription Factors In Plant Development And Tumor Formation

Ecological genetics ◽

10.17816/ecogen443-9 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 3-9

Author(s):

Maria A Osipova ◽

Elena A Dolgikh ◽

Ludmila A Lutova

Keyword(s):

Cell Proliferation ◽

Transcription Factor ◽

Transcription Factors ◽

Plant Development ◽

Plant Hormones ◽

Tumor Formation ◽

Animal Tumor ◽

The Common ◽

Meristem Maintenance

Homeodomain-containing transcription factors are the important regulators of multicellular organism's development. Plant transcription factors WOX and KNOX play the key role in meristem maintenance, controlling cell proliferation and preventing differentiation. The precise mechanism of WOX and KNOX action hasn't been well studied, however these transcription factors were shown to play the important role in plant hormones homeostasis, cytokinins in particular. Plant transcription factors of KNOX group demonstrate the similarities in structure and are supposed have the common origin with animal transcription factors of MEIS group. This review describes WOX and KNOX transcription factor families, their interaction with plant hormones. The role of homeodomain-containing transcription factors in plant and animal tumor formation is discussed.

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From signaling to function: how strigolactones regulate plant development

Science China Life Sciences ◽

10.1007/s11427-020-1802-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (11) ◽

pp. 1768-1770

Author(s):

Baoyuan Qu ◽

Yuan Qin ◽

Yang Bai

Keyword(s):

Plant Development ◽

Regulate Plant Development

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Direct Regulation of the EFR-Dependent Immune Response by Arabidopsis TCP Transcription Factors

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions ◽

10.1094/mpmi-07-18-0201-fi ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 32 (5) ◽

pp. 540-549 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Benjamin J. Spears ◽

T. C. Howton ◽

Fei Gao ◽

Christopher M. Garner ◽

M. Shahid Mukhtar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Transcription Factors ◽

Plant Development ◽

Gene Promoter ◽

In Planta ◽

Triple Mutant ◽

Promoter Library ◽

Pathogenesis Related Protein ◽

Effector Triggered Immunity ◽

The Cost

One layer of the innate immune system allows plants to recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPS), activating a defense response known as PAMP-triggered immunity (PTI). Maintaining an active immune response, however, comes at the cost of plant growth and development; accordingly, optimization of the balance between defense and development is critical to plant fitness. The TEOSINTE BRANCHED1/CYCLOIDEA/PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR (TCP) transcription factor family consists of well-characterized transcriptional regulators of plant development and morphogenesis. The three closely related class I TCP transcription factors TCP8, TCP14, and TCP15 have also been implicated in the regulation of effector-triggered immunity, but there has been no previous characterization of PTI-related phenotypes. To identify TCP targets involved in PTI, we screened a PAMP-induced gene promoter library in a yeast one-hybrid assay and identified interactions of these three TCPs with the EF-Tu RECEPTOR (EFR) promoter. The direct interactions between TCP8 and EFR were confirmed to require an intact TCP binding site in planta. A tcp8 tcp14 tcp15 triple mutant was impaired in EFR-dependent PTI and exhibited reduced levels of PATHOGENESIS-RELATED PROTEIN 2 and induction of EFR expression after elicitation with elf18 but also increased production of reactive oxygen species relative to Col-0. Our data support an increasingly complex role for TCPs at the nexus of plant development and defense.

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BES1 is activated by EMS1-TPD1-SERK1/2-mediated signaling to control tapetum development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-019-12118-4 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Weiyue Chen ◽

Minghui Lv ◽

Yanze Wang ◽

Ping-An Wang ◽

Yanwei Cui ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Transcription Factors ◽

Plant Development ◽

Family Members ◽

Ectopic Expression ◽

Null Mutant ◽

Male Sterile ◽

Receptor Like Kinase ◽

Biochemical Analyses

Abstract BES1 and BZR1 were originally identified as two key transcription factors specifically regulating brassinosteroid (BR)-mediated gene expression. They belong to a family consisting of six members, BES1, BZR1, BEH1, BEH2, BEH3, and BEH4. bes1 and bzr1 single mutants do not exhibit any characteristic BR phenotypes, suggesting functional redundancy of these proteins. Here, by generating higher order mutants, we show that a quintuple mutant is male sterile due to defects in tapetum and microsporocyte development in anthers. Our genetic and biochemical analyses demonstrate that BES1 family members also act as downstream transcription factors in the EMS1-TPD1-SERK1/2 pathway. Ectopic expression of both TPD1 and EMS1 in bri1-116, a BR receptor null mutant, leads to the accumulation of non-phosphorylated, active BES1, similar to activation of BES1 by BRI1-BR-BAK1 signaling. These data suggest that two distinctive receptor-like kinase-mediated signaling pathways share BES1 family members as downstream transcription factors to regulate different aspects of plant development.

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