ERF1 inhibits lateral root emergence by promoting local auxin accumulation and repressing ARF7 expression

Pingxia Zhao; Jing Zhang; Siyan Chen; Zisheng Zhang; Guangyu Wan; Jieli Mao; Zhen Wang; Shutang Tan; Chengbin Xiang

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112565

ERF1 inhibits lateral root emergence by promoting local auxin accumulation and repressing ARF7 expression

Cell Rep. 2023 Jun 27;42(6):112565. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112565. Epub 2023 May 23.

Authors

Pingxia Zhao¹, Jing Zhang², Siyan Chen², Zisheng Zhang², Guangyu Wan², Jieli Mao², Zhen Wang³, Shutang Tan², Chengbin Xiang⁴

Affiliations

¹ Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Division of Molecular & Cell Biophysics, Hefei National Science Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences at the Microscale, MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science and Technology of China, The Innovation Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui Province 230027, China. Electronic address: zhaopingxia2008@163.com.
² Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Division of Molecular & Cell Biophysics, Hefei National Science Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences at the Microscale, MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science and Technology of China, The Innovation Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui Province 230027, China.
³ College of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, Anhui Province 230036, China.
⁴ Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Division of Molecular & Cell Biophysics, Hefei National Science Center for Interdisciplinary Sciences at the Microscale, MOE Key Laboratory for Membraneless Organelles and Cellular Dynamics, University of Science and Technology of China, The Innovation Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui Province 230027, China. Electronic address: xiangcb@ustc.edu.cn.

PMID: 37224012
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112565

Abstract

Lateral roots (LRs) are crucial for plants to sense environmental signals in addition to water and nutrient absorption. Auxin is key for LR formation, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we report that Arabidopsis ERF1 inhibits LR emergence by promoting local auxin accumulation with altered distribution and regulating auxin signaling. Loss of ERF1 increases LR density compared with the wild type, whereas ERF1 overexpression causes the opposite phenotype. ERF1 enhances auxin transport by upregulating PIN1 and AUX1, resulting in excessive auxin accumulation in the endodermal, cortical, and epidermal cells surrounding LR primordia. Furthermore, ERF1 represses ARF7 transcription, thereby downregulating the expression of cell-wall remodeling genes that facilitate LR emergence. Together, our study reveals that ERF1 integrates environmental signals to promote local auxin accumulation with altered distribution and repress ARF7, consequently inhibiting LR emergence in adaptation to fluctuating environments.

Keywords: ARF7; AUX1; CP: Developmental biology; CP: Plants; ERF1; PIN1; auxin distribution; auxin transport; lateral root.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Arabidopsis Proteins* / genetics
Arabidopsis Proteins* / metabolism
Arabidopsis* / genetics
Arabidopsis* / metabolism
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant*
Indoleacetic Acids / metabolism
Plant Roots* / genetics
Transcription Factors / metabolism

Substances

Arabidopsis Proteins
ARF7 protein, Arabidopsis
Indoleacetic Acids
Transcription Factors
ethylene-responsive element binding protein