Arabidopsis AGAMOUS-LIKE16 and SUPPRESSOR OF CONSTANS1 regulate the genome-wide expression and flowering time

Abstract

Flowering transition is tightly coordinated by complex gene regulatory networks, in which AGAMOUS-LIKE 16 (AGL16) plays important roles. Here, we identified the molecular function and binding properties of AGL16 and demonstrated its partial dependency on SUPPRESSOR OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) function in regulating flowering. AGL16 bound to promoters of more than 2000 genes via CArG-box motifs with high similarity to that of SOC1 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Approximately seventy flowering genes involved in multiple pathways were potential targets of AGL16. AGL16 formed a protein complex with SOC1 and shared a common set of targets. Intriguingly, only a limited number of genes were differentially expressed in the agl16-1 loss-of-function mutant. However, in the soc1-2 knockout background, AGL16 repressed and activated the expression of 375 and 182 genes, respectively, with more than a quarter bound by AGL16. Corroborating these findings, AGL16 repressed the flowering time more strongly in soc1-2 than in the Col-0 background. These data identify a partial inter-dependency between AGL16 and SOC1 in regulating genome-wide gene expression and flowering time, while AGL16 provides a feedback regulation on SOC1 expression. Our study sheds light on the complex background dependency of AGL16 in flowering regulation, thus providing additional insights into the molecular coordination of development and environmental adaptation.

Genomes of Meniocus linifolius and Tetracme quadricornis reveal the ancestral karyotype and genomic features of core Brassicaceae

“…Total RNA isolation and quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (qRT–PCR) were performed as described previously ( Zhong et al., 2021 ; Dong et al., 2023 ). In brief, total RNA was isolated from shoots and leaves with TRI Reagent TR118 (MRC, USA) and from flowers and siliques with an OmniPlant RNA Kit (CWBio, China).…”

A comparative full‐length transcriptomic resource provides insight into the perennial monocarpic mass flowering

“…For strand‐specific cDNA library construction and Illumina sequencing, mRNAs were enriched with Oligo(dT) beads and broken into 200–300 nt short fragments in a fragmentation buffer as previously reported (Dong et al., 2023). The first‐ and second‐strands of cDNAs were synthesized using random hexamers.…”

“…The networks were visualized using Cytoscape (v.3.9.1). Candidate flowering time genes were identified according to Dong et al (Dong et al, 2023) and confirmed via phylogenetic clustering.…”