Spatiotemporal oxygen dynamics in young leaves reveal cyclic hypoxia in plants

Oxygen is essential for plant growth and development.Hypoxia occurs in plants due to limited oxygen avail-abilityfollowing adverse environmental conditions as well inhypoxic niches in otherwisenormoxic environ-ments.However,the existence and functional integration of spatiotemporal oxygen dynamics with plant development remains unknown.In animal systems dynamic fluctuations in oxygen availability are known as cyclic hypoxia.In this study,we demonstrate that cyclic fluctuations in internal oxygen levels occur in young emerging leaves of Arabidopsis plants.Cyclic hypoxia in plants is based on a mechanism requiring the ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTORS type VII(ERFVII)that are central components of the oxygen-sensing machinery in plants.The ERFVll-dependent mechanism allows precise adjustment of leaf growth in response to carbon status and oxygen availability within plant cells.This study thus establishes a functional connection between internal spatiotemporal oxygen dynamics and developmental processes of plants.

Endogenous Hypoxia in Lateral Root Primordia Controls Root Architecture by Antagonizing Auxin Signaling in Arabidopsis

As non-photosynthesizing organs, roots are dependent on diffusion of oxygen from the external environment and, in some in stances, from the shoot for their aerobic metabolism . Establishment of hypoxic niches in the developing tissues of plants has been postulated as a consequence of insufficient diffusion of oxygen to satisfy the demands throughout development. Here, we report that such niches are established at specific stages of lateral root primordia development in Arabidopsis thaliana grown under aerobic conditions. Using gain- and loss-of-function mutants, we show that ERF-Ⅶ transcription factors, which mediate hypoxic responses, control root architecture by acting in cells with a high level of auxin signaling. ERF-Ⅶs repress the expression of the auxin-induced genes LBD16, LBD18, and PUCHI, which are essential for lateral root development, by binding to their promoters. Our results support a model in which the establishment of hypoxic n iches in the developing lateral root primordia con tributes to the shutting down of key auxin-induced genes and regulates the production of lateral roots.

Alternative Splicing in the Anthocyanin Fruit Gene Encoding an R2R3 MYB Transcription Factor Affects Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Tomato Fruits

Tomato(Solanum lycopersicum)fruits are typically red at ripening,with high levels of carotenoids and a low content in flavonoids.Considerable work has been done to enrich the spectrum of their healthbeneficial phytochemicals,and interspecific crosses with wild species have successfully led to purple anthocyanin-colored fruits.The Aft(Anthocyanin fruit)tomato accession inherited from Solanum chilense the ability to accumulate anthocyanins in fruit peel through the introgression of loci controlling anthocyanin pigmentation,including four R2R3 MYB transcription factor-encoding genes.Here,we carried out a comparative functional analysis of these transcription factors in wild-type and Aft plants,and tested their ability to take part in the transcriptional complexes that regulate the biosynthetic pathway and their effi-ciency in inducing anthocyanin pigmentation.Significant differences emerged for SlAN2like,both in the expression level and protein functionality,with splicing mutations determining a complete loss of function of the wild-type protein.This transcription factor thus appears to play a key role in the anthocyanin fruit pigmentation.Our data provide new clues to the long-awaited genetic basis of the Aft phenotype and contribute to understand why domesticated tomato fruits display a homogeneous red coloration without the typical purple streaks observed in wild tomato species.

New Role for an Old Rule: N-end Rule-Mediated Degradation of Ethylene Responsive Factor Proteins Governs Low Oxygen Response in Plants

The N-end rule pathway regulates protein degradation, which depends on exposed N-terminal sequences in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. In plants, conserved and specific enzymes stimulate selective proteolysis. Although a number of developmental and growth phenotypes have been reported for mutants in the N-end rule, its function has remained unrelated to specific physiological pathways. The first report of the direct involvement of the N-end rule in stress responses focused on hypoxic signaling and how the oxygen-dependent oxidation of cystein promotes the N-end rule-mediated degradation of ethylene responsive factor （ERF）-VII proteins, the master regulators of anaerobic responses. It has been suggested that plants have evolved specific mechanisms to tune ERF-VII availability in the nucleus. In this review, we speculate that ERF-VII proteins are reversibly protected from degradation via membrane sequestration. The oxidative response in plants subjected to anoxic conditions suggests that reactive oxygen and nitrogen species （reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species） may interact or interfere with the N-end rule pathway-mediated response to hypoxia.