Plant-specific Dof transcription factors VASCULAR-RELATED DOF1 and VASCULAR-RELATED DOF2 regulate vascular cell differentiation and lignin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis.
Plant-specific Dof transcription factors VDOF1 and VDOF2 are novel regulators of vascular cell differentiation through the course of a lifetime in Arabidopsis, with shifting their transcriptional target genes. Vascular system is one of critical tissues for vascular plants to transport low-molecular compounds, such as water, minerals, and the photosynthetic product, sucrose. Here, we report the involvement of two Dof transcription factors, named VASCULAR-RELATED DOF1 (VDOF1)/VDOF4.6 and VDOF2/VDOF1.8, in vascular cell differentiation and lignin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. VDOF genes were expressed in vascular tissues, but the detailed expression sites were partly different between VDOF1 and VDOF2. Vein patterning and lignin analysis of VDOF overexpressors and double mutant vdof1 vdof2 suggested that VDOF1 and VDOF2 would function as negative regulators of vein formation in seedlings, and lignin deposition in inflorescence stems. Interestingly, effects of VDOF overexpression in lignin deposition were different by developmental stages of inflorescence stems, and total lignin contents were increased and decreased in VDOF1 and VDOF2 overexpressors, respectively. RNA-seq analysis of inducible VDOF overexpressors demonstrated that the genes for cell wall biosynthesis, including lignin biosynthetic genes, and the transcription factor genes related to stress response and brassinosteroid signaling were commonly affected by VDOF1 and VDOF2 overexpression. Taken together, we concluded that VDOF1 and VDOF2 are novel regulators of vascular cell differentiation through the course of a lifetime, with shifting their transcriptional target genes: in seedlings, the VDOF genes negatively regulate vein formation, while at reproductive stages, the VDOF proteins target lignin biosynthesis.
['Ramachandran|Vasagi|V|', 'Tobimatsu|Yuki|Y|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7578-7392', 'Masaomi|Yamamura|Y|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1204-9229', 'Sano|Ryosuke|R|', 'Umezawa|Toshiaki|T|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1135-5387', 'Demura|Taku|T|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2499-4738', 'Ohtani|Misato|M|http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5429-3310']
D017360:Arabidopsis D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins D002454:Cell Differentiation D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins D020869:Gene Expression Profiling D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant D063990:Gene Ontology D056626:Inflorescence D008031:Lignin D009154:Mutation D018547:Plant Stems D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified D012639:Seeds D017421:Sequence Analysis D014157:Transcription Factors
Dof transcription factor VASCULAR-RELATED DOF1 VASCULAR-RELATED DOF2 Vascular cell differentiation Lignin Vein patterning Arabidopsis thaliana