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J Integr Plant Biol.

• Research Article • Previous Articles    

Very-long-chain ceramide synthases and PIF4-mediated auxin signaling act together to modulate thermomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis

He-Nan Bao1, Yong-Kang Li1, Yu-Meng Zhang1, Yi Chen1, Li-Qun Huang2, Jian Li3, Chang Yang1, Ding-Kang Chen1, Hong-Yun Zeng4* and Nan Yao1*   

  1. 1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
    2. Hunan Province Key Laboratory of Crop Sterile Germplasm Resource Innovation and Application, College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China
    3. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Botany, State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
    4. Key Laboratory of South Subtropical Fruit Biology and Genetic Resource Utilization (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs), Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Tropical and Subtropical Fruit Tree Research, Institute of Fruit Tree Research, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
    *Correspondences: Hong-Yun Zeng (zenghongyun@gdaas.cn); Nan Yao (yaonan@mail.sysu.edu.cn, Dr. Yao is fully responsible for the distribution of all materials associated with this article)
  • Received:2025-12-09 Accepted:2025-12-16 Online:2026-01-14
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2023A1515012051, 2025A1515010084) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070196) to N.Y.; the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2024M753719) and Sun Yat‐sen University (24qnpy079) to H.‐N.B.

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Abstract: Sphingolipids, including ceramides, are structural membrane lipids that function in membrane trafficking and cell polarity. Very-long-chain (VLC) ceramide synthases are essential for plant growth and development, but how VLC ceramide synthases affect developmental programs and their exact roles in plant growth remain unclear. Here, we report that two VLC ceramide synthases, LONGEVITY ASSURANCE GENE ONE HOMOLOG 1 (LOH1) and LOH3, link sphingolipid metabolism and thermomorphogenesis, that is, plant morphogenesis in response to higher temperatures. We found that high ambient temperature (28°C) induced an increase in plant VLC ceramide contents, and defects in LOH1 or LOH3 function inhibited hypocotyl elongation at this temperature. PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) potentiates the thermal sensitivity of hypocotyl morphogenesis in a LOH1- and LOH3-dependent manner, directly binding to the LOH1 and LOH3 promoters to enhance their expression. Strikingly, LOH1 and LOH3 also enhance PIF4-dependent transcriptional activation of downstream genes, including PIF4 itself, LOH1, and LOH3. Our study reveals a regulatory mechanism in which PIF4 activates the transcription of LOH1 and LOH3; in turn, LOH1 and LOH3 enhance PIF4 signaling by supporting PIF4-mediated transcriptional responses, thereby controlling plant growth in response to temperature.

Key words: auxin, PIF4, sphingolipid, thermomorphogenesis, very‐long‐chain ceramide synthase

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