J Integr Plant Biol.

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Regulation of cryptochrome-mediated blue light signaling by the ABI4–PIF4 module

Pengyu Song1,2†, Zidan Yang1,3,4†, Huaichang Wang1†, Fangfang Wan1, Dingming Kang3, Wenming Zheng2, Zhizhong Gong1 and Jigang Li1*   

  1. 1. Frontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding (MOE), State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, Postdoctoral Station of Crop Science, College of Life Sciences, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
    3. MOE Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis and Utilization, College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
    4. Solid‐State Fermentation Resource Utilization Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Yibin 644000, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.

    *Correspondence: Jigang Li (jigangli@cau.edu.cn)

  • Received:2024-01-12 Accepted:2024-08-01 Online:2024-08-26
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32225006), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (5232011), and the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (2024TC166), and by the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF under Grant Number GZC20230717.

Abstract: ABSCISIC ACID-INSENSITIVE 4 (ABI4) is a pivotal transcription factor which coordinates multiple aspects of plant growth and development as well as plant responses to environmental stresses. ABI4 has been shown to be involved in regulating seedling photomorphogenesis; however, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Here, we show that the role of ABI4 in regulating photomorphogenesis is generally regulated by sucrose, but ABI4 promotes hypocotyl elongation of Arabidopsis seedlings under blue (B) light under all tested sucrose concentrations. We further show that ABI4 physically interacts with PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4), a well-characterized growth-promoting transcription factor, and post-translationally promotes PIF4 protein accumulation under B light. Further analyses indicate that ABI4 directly interacts with the B light photoreceptors cryptochromes (CRYs) and inhibits the interactions between CRYs and PIF4, thus relieving CRY-mediated repression of PIF4 protein accumulation. In addition, while ABI4 could directly activate its own expression, CRYs enhance, whereas PIF4 inhibits, ABI4-mediated activation of the ABI4 promoter. Together, our study demonstrates that the ABI4–PIF4 module plays an important role in mediating CRY-induced B light signaling in Arabidopsis.

Key words: ABI4, Arabidopsis thaliana, CRYs, photomorpho-genesis, PIF4

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