Transposase-derived transcription factors regulate light signaling in Arabidopsis. uri icon

abstract

  • Plants use light to optimize growth and development. The photoreceptor phytochrome A (phyA) mediates various far-red light-induced responses. We show that Arabidopsis FHY3 and FAR1, which encode two proteins related to Mutator-like transposases, act together to modulate phyA signaling by directly activating the transcription of FHY1 and FHL, whose products are essential for light-induced phyA nuclear accumulation and subsequent light responses. FHY3 and FAR1 have separable DNA binding and transcriptional activation domains that are highly conserved in Mutator-like transposases. Further, expression of FHY3 and FAR1 is negatively regulated by phyA signaling. We propose that FHY3 and FAR1 represent transcription factors that have been co-opted from an ancient Mutator-like transposase(s) to modulate phyA-signaling homeostasis in higher plants.

published proceedings

  • Science

author list (cited authors)

  • Lin, R., Ding, L., Casola, C., Ripoll, D. R., Feschotte, C., & Wang, H.

complete list of authors

  • Lin, Rongcheng||Ding, Lei||Casola, Claudio||Ripoll, Daniel R||Feschotte, Cédric||Wang, Haiyang