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Coordination between two cis-elements of WRKY33, bound by the same transcription factor, confers humid adaption in Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

To cope with flooding-induced hypoxia, plants have evolved different strategies. Molecular strategies, such as the N-degron pathway and transcriptional regulation, are known to be crucial for Arabidopsis thaliana’s hypoxia response. Our study uncovered a novel molecular strategy that involves a single transcription factor interacting with two identical cis-elements, one located in the promoter region and the other within the intron. This unique double-element adjustment mechanism has seldom been reported in previous studies. In humid areas, WRKY70 plays a crucial role in A. thaliana’s adaptation to submergence-induced hypoxia by binding to identical cis-elements in both the promoter and intron regions of WRKY33. This dual binding enhances WRKY33 expression and the activation of hypoxia-related genes. Conversely, in arid regions lacking the promoter cis-element, WRKY70 only binds to the intron cis-element, resulting in limited WRKY33 expression during submergence stress. The presence of a critical promoter cis-element in humid accessions, but not in dry accessions, indicates a coordinated regulation enabling A. thaliana to adapt and thrive in humid habitats.

Key message

A coordination strategy between two cis-elements of WRKY33 regulated by the same transcription factor, WRKY70, promotes humid adaption of A. thaliana.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to these fundings (the National Natural Science Foundation of China No. 32270302 and No. 32030006, the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences XDB31010300 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities SCU2022D003) for their support. Thanks to ABRC for providing the mutant seeds used in this work.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 32270302, 32030006, and 31670317), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDB31010300), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2020SCUNL207, SCU2019D013).

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  1. Bao Liu and Yudan Zheng have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Bio-resources and Eco-environment & State Key Lab of Hydraulics & Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan Zoige Alpine Wetland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Key Laboratory for Bio-resource and Eco-environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Bao Liu, Yudan Zheng, Shangling Lou, Meng Liu, Weiwei Wang, Xiaoqin Feng, Han Zhang, Yan Song & Huanhuan Liu

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  1. Bao Liu
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Contributions

L.H.H., L.B. and Z.Y.D. designed the research. L.B., Z.Y.D., L.H.H., L.S.L., L.M., W.W.W., F.X.Q and Z.H carried out the experiments. L.B. and Z.Y.D. analyzed the data. L.H.H. and L.B. wrote and revised the article.

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Correspondence to Huanhuan Liu.

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Accession numbers

Sequence data from this article can be found in the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative or GenBank/EMBL databases under the following accession numbers: WRKY70 (AT3G56400), WRKY33 (AT2G38470), SR1 (AT2G47090), ADH1 (AT1G77120), PDC1 (AT4G33070), SUS4 (AT3G43190), PCO2 (AT5G39890), HB1 (AT2G16060), ACS2 (AT1G01480), WRKY12 (AT2G44745), IRX3 (AT5G17420), CAT2 (AT1G58030), WAK2 (AT1G21270), RAP2.2 (AT3G14230), AT1G66810 and AT5G22920.

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Liu, B., Zheng, Y., Lou, S. et al. Coordination between two cis-elements of WRKY33, bound by the same transcription factor, confers humid adaption in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Mol Biol 114, 30 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-024-01428-x

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