Sugar inhibits brassinosteroid signaling by enhancing BIN2 phosphorylation of BZR1

Sugar, light, and hormones are major signals regulating plant growth and development, however, the interactions among these signals are not fully understood at the molecular level. Recent studies showed that sugar promotes hypocotyl elongation by activating the brassinosteroid (BR) signaling pathway...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPLoS genetics Vol. 17; no. 5; p. e1009540
Main Authors Zhang, Zhenzhen, Sun, Ying, Jiang, Xue, Wang, Wenfei, Wang, Zhi-Yong
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Public Library of Science 14.05.2021
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects
Arabidopsis thaliana
Biology and Life Sciences
Carbohydrate metabolism
Dephosphorylation
Elongation
Gene expression
Hormones
Kinases
Light
Mannitol
Observations
Phosphorylation
Physical Sciences
Physiological aspects
Proteins
Repressors
Seedlings
Signal transduction
Steroid hormones
Sucrose
Sugar
Transcription factors
China
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Sugar, light, and hormones are major signals regulating plant growth and development, however, the interactions among these signals are not fully understood at the molecular level. Recent studies showed that sugar promotes hypocotyl elongation by activating the brassinosteroid (BR) signaling pathway after shifting Arabidopsis seedlings from light to extended darkness. Here, we show that sugar inhibits BR signaling in Arabidopsis seedlings grown under light. BR induction of hypocotyl elongation in seedlings grown under light is inhibited by increasing concentration of sucrose. The sugar inhibition of BR response is correlated with decreased effect of BR on the dephosphorylation of BZR1, the master transcription factor of the BR signaling pathway. This sugar effect is independent of the sugar sensors Hexokinase 1 (HXK1) and Target of Rapamycin (TOR), but requires the GSK3-like kinase Brassinosteroid-Insensitive 2 (BIN2), which is stabilized by sugar. Our study uncovers an inhibitory effect of sugar on BR signaling in plants grown under light, in contrast to its promotive effect in the dark. Such light-dependent sugar-BR crosstalk apparently contributes to optimal growth responses to photosynthate availability according to light-dark conditions.
Bibliography:new_version
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1553-7404
1553-7390
1553-7404
DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1009540