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Light is a crucial environmental factor that impacts various aspects of plant development. Phytochromes, as light sensors, regulate myriads of downstream genes to mediate developmental reprogramming in response to changes in environmental conditions. CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) is an E3 ligase for a number of substrates in light signaling, acting as a central repressor of photomorphogenesis. The interplay between phytochrome B (phyB) and COP1 forms an antagonistic regulatory module that triggers extensive gene expression reprogramming when exposed to light. Here, we uncover a role of COP1 in light-dependent chromatin remodeling through the regulation of VIL1 (VIN3-LIKE 1)/VERNALIZATION 5, a Polycomb protein. VIL1 directly interacts with phyB and regulates photomorphogenesis through the formation of repressive chromatin loops at downstream growth-promoting genes in response to light. Furthermore, we reveal that COP1 governs light-dependent formation of chromatin loop and limiting a repressive histone modification to fine-tune expressions of growth-promoting genes during photomorphogenesis through VIL1. 

Abstract Plants respond to high ambient temperature by implementing a suite of morphological changes collectively termed thermomorphogenesis. Here we show that the above and below ground tissue-response to high ambient temperature are mediated by distinct transcription factors. While the central hub transcription factor, PHYTOCHROME INTERCTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) regulates the above ground tissue response, the below ground root elongation is primarily regulated by ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5). Plants respond to high temperature by largely expressing distinct sets of genes in a tissue-specific manner. HY5 promotes root thermomorphogenesis via directly controlling the expression of many genes including the auxin and BR pathway genes. Strikingly, the above and below ground thermomorphogenesis is impaired inspaQ. Because SPA1 directly phosphorylates PIF4 and HY5, SPAs might control the stability of PIF4 and HY5 to regulate thermomorphogenesis in both tissues. These data collectively suggest that plants employ distinct combination of SPA-PIF4-HY5 module to regulate tissue-specific thermomorphogenesis.