Brassinosteroid, gibberellin and phytochrome impinge on a common transcription module in Arabidopsis

Nat Cell Biol. 2012 Aug;14(8):810-7. doi: 10.1038/ncb2546. Epub 2012 Jul 22.

Abstract

Brassinosteroid and gibberellin promote many similar developmental responses in plants; however, their relationship remains unclear. Here we show that BR and GA act interdependently through a direct interaction between the BR-activated BZR1 and GA-inactivated DELLA transcription regulators. GA promotion of cell elongation required BR signalling, whereas BR or active BZR1 suppressed the GA-deficient dwarf phenotype. DELLAs directly interacted with BZR1 and inhibited BZR1-DNA binding both in vitro and in vivo. Genome-wide analysis defined a BZR1-dependent GA-regulated transcriptome, which is enriched with light-regulated genes and genes involved in cell wall synthesis and photosynthesis/chloroplast function. GA promotion of hypocotyl elongation requires both BZR1 and the phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs), as well as their common downstream targets encoding the PRE-family helix-loop-helix factors. The results demonstrate that GA releases DELLA-mediated inhibition of BZR1, and that the DELLA-BZR1-PIF4 interaction defines a core transcription module that mediates coordinated growth regulation by GA, BR and light signals.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis / genetics*
  • Arabidopsis / growth & development
  • Arabidopsis / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism*
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Brassinosteroids / metabolism*
  • Cell Enlargement
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant*
  • Gibberellins / metabolism*
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
  • Phytochrome / metabolism*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Signal Transduction / drug effects
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • BZR1 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
  • Brassinosteroids
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Gibberellins
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • PIF4 protein, Arabidopsis
  • Phytochrome