Leaf laminar growth and adaxial–abaxial boundary formation are fundamental outcomes of plant development. Boundary and laminar growth coordinate the further patterning and growth of the leaf, directing the differentiation of cell types within the top and bottom domains and promoting initiation of lateral organs along their adaxial or abaxial axis. Leaf adaxial–abaxial polarity specification and laminar outgrowth are regulated by two transcription factors, REVOLUTA (REV) and KANADI (KAN). ABA INSENSITIVE TO GROWTH 1 (ABIG1) encodes a HOMEODOMAIN-LEUCINE ZIPPER (HD-ZIP) class II transcription factor and is a direct target of the adaxial–abaxial regulators REV and KAN. To investigate the role of ABIG1 in leaf development and in the establishment of polarity, we examined the phenotypes of both gain-of-function and loss-of-function mutants. Through genetic interaction analysis with REV and KAN mutants, we determined that ABIG1 plays a role in leaf laminar growth as well as in adaxial–abaxial polarity establishment. Genetic and physical interaction assays showed that ABIG1 interacts with the transcriptional TOPLESS corepressor. This study provides new evidence that ABIG1, another HD-ZIP II, facilitates growth through the corepressor TOPLESS.
The plant-specific family of WUSCHEL (WUS)-related homeobox (WOX) transcription factors is key regulators of embryogenesis, meristem maintenance, and lateral organ development in flowering plants. The modern/WUS clade transcriptional repressor STENOFOLIA/LAMINA1(LAM1), and the intermediate/WOX9 clade transcriptional activator MtWOX9/NsWOX9 antagonistically regulate leaf blade expansion, but the molecular mechanism is unknown. Using transcriptome profiling and biochemical methods, we determined that NsCKX3 is the common target of LAM1 and NsWOX9 in Nicotiana sylvestris. LAM1 and NsWOX9 directly recognize and bind to the same cis-elements in the NsCKX3 promoter to repress and activate its expression, respectively, thus controlling the levels of active cytokinins in vivo. Disruption of NsCKX3 in the lam1 background yielded a phenotype similar to the knockdown of NsWOX9 in lam1, while overexpressing NsCKX3 resulted in narrower and shorter lam1 leaf blades reminiscent of NsWOX9 overexpression in the lam1 mutant. Moreover, we established that LAM1 physically interacts with NsWOX9, and this interaction is required to regulate NsCKX3 transcription. Taken together, our results indicate that repressor and activator WOX members oppositely regulate a common downstream target to function in leaf blade outgrowth, offering a novel insight into the role of local cytokinins in balancing cell proliferation and differentiation during lateral organ development.
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10372426
- Journal Name:
- The Plant Cell
- Volume:
- 34
- Issue:
- 10
- Page Range or eLocation-ID:
- p. 3737-3753
- ISSN:
- 1040-4651
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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