PyuARF16/33 Are Involved in the Regulation of Lignin Synthesis and Rapid Growth in Populus yunnanensis

Abstract

(1) Background: Lignin is a unique component of the secondary cell wall, which provides structural support for perennial woody plants. ARFs are the core factors of the auxin-signaling pathway, which plays an important role in promoting plant growth, but the specific relationship between auxin response factors (ARFs) and lignin has not been fully elucidated with regard to rapid plant growth in forest trees. (2) Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ARFs and lignin with regard to rapid plant growth in forest trees. (3) Methods: We used bioinformatics analysis to investigate the PyuARF family, find genes homologous to ARF6 and ARF8 in Populus yunnanensis, and explore the changes in gene expression and lignin content under light treatment. (4) Results: We identified and characterized 35 PyuARFs based on chromosome-level genome data from P. yunnanensis. In total, we identified 92 ARF genes in P. yunnanensis, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Populus trichocarpa, which were subsequently divided into three subgroups based on phylogenetic analysis and classified the conserved exon–intron structures and motif compositions of the ARFs into the same subgroups. Collinearity analysis suggested that segmental duplication and whole-genome duplication events were majorly responsible for the expansion of the PyuARF family, and the analysis of Ka/Ks indicated that the majority of the duplicated PyuARFs underwent purifying selection. The analysis of cis-acting elements showed that PyuARFs were sensitive to light, plant hormones, and stress. We analyzed the tissue-specific transcription profiles of PyuARFs with transcriptional activation function and the transcription profiles of PyuARFs with high expression under light in the stem. We also measured the lignin content under light treatment. The data showed that the lignin content was lower, and the gene transcription profiles were more limited under red light than under white light on days 1, 7, and 14 of the light treatments. The results suggest that PyuARF16/33 may be involved in the regulation of lignin synthesis, thereby promoting the rapid growth of P. yunnanensis. (5) Conclusions: Collectively, this study firstly reports that PyuARF16/33 may be involved in the regulation of lignin synthesis and in promoting the rapid growth in P. yunnanensis.

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of ARF gene family in embryonic development of Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis)

“…Similarly, in both Populus and Populus yunnanensis , which have 19 chromosomes, the ARF genes were distributed on 16 chromosomes, and the distribution of genes on different chromosomes was also uneven. Chromosome 1 was found to be the longest in both Populus and Populus yunnanensis , but it had fewer ARF genes [ 12 , 58 ]. The analysis indicated that ARF genes are distributed similarly on the chromosomes of woody plants, and the number of ARF genes on each chromosome is independent of chromosome length.…”

FvemiR160‐FveARF18A‐FveAP1/FveFUL module regulates flowering time in woodland strawberry

“…Auxin (AUX) is a core factor in the auxin signaling pathway, mainly in the form of IAA in plants (Zhao, 2010), and its signal transduction pathway is mainly regulated by ARFs and Aux/IAA (Guilfoyle & Hagen, 2007). As a vital plant hormone, IAA is involved in almost every aspect of plant growth and development (Hu et al., 2023). For example, IAA and its polar transport originate from young plant organs (Aloni et al., 2006) and regulate the root development of Arabidopsis (Teale et al., 2005); SlIAA9 is involved in leaf morphogenesis of tomato (Wang et al., 2005).…”