The HD-ZIP II Transcription Factors Regulate Plant Architecture through the Auxin Pathway
1
College of Life Sciences, Northwest A & F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
2
National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21(9), 3250; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21093250
Received: 12 March 2020
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Revised: 29 April 2020
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Accepted: 2 May 2020
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Published: 4 May 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Molecular Plant Sciences)
The homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) family transcription factors play important roles in plant growth and development. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. Here we found that ATHB2, encoding a HD-ZIP transcription factor, is an early auxin responsive gene. Phenotypic analyses show that overexpression of ATHB2 impairs plant architecture, including reduced plant height and small leaves, and also reduces auxin response in leaves when grown in soil. Simultaneously, the seedlings with chemical induction of ATHB2 exhibit abnormal root gravitropism, a typical auxin-related phenotype. We further show that the auxin response pattern is altered in roots of the inducible ATHB2 seedlings. Consistently, the transcript levels of some auxin biosynthetic and transport genes are significantly decreased in these transgenic seedlings. Further, protein and promoter sequence analyses in common wheat showed that the HD-ZIP II subfamily transcription factors have highly conserved motifs and most of these encoding gene promoters contain the canonical auxin-responsive elements. Expression analyses confirm that some of these HD-ZIP II genes are indeed regulated by auxin in wheat. Together, our results suggest that the HD-ZIP II subfamily transcription factors regulate plant development possibly through the auxin pathway in plants.
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Keywords:
Arabidopsis; wheat; HD-ZIP; ATHB2; auxin
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MDPI and ACS Style
He, G.; Liu, P.; Zhao, H.; Sun, J. The HD-ZIP II Transcription Factors Regulate Plant Architecture through the Auxin Pathway. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 3250. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21093250
AMA Style
He G, Liu P, Zhao H, Sun J. The HD-ZIP II Transcription Factors Regulate Plant Architecture through the Auxin Pathway. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(9):3250. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21093250
Chicago/Turabian StyleHe, Guanhua, Pan Liu, Huixian Zhao, and Jiaqiang Sun. 2020. "The HD-ZIP II Transcription Factors Regulate Plant Architecture through the Auxin Pathway" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 21, no. 9: 3250. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21093250
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