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Plant seedlings undergo distinct developmental processes in the dark and in the light. Several genes, including ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL5 ( HY5 ), B-BOX PROTEIN21 ( BBX21 ), and BBX22 , have been identified as photomorphogenesis-promoting factors in Arabidopsis thaliana ; however, the overexpression of these genes does not induce photomorphogenesis in the dark. Using an activation-tagging approach, we identified SRS5ox , which overexpresses SHI-RELATED SEQUENCE5 ( SRS5 ) following induction with estradiol. SRS5 overexpression in SRS5ox and Pro35S:SRS5-GFP seedlings results in a constitutive photomorphogenesis phenotype in the dark, whereas SRS5 loss of function in the srs5-2 mutant results in long hypocotyls in the light. This indicates that SRS5 is a positive regulator of photomorphogenesis. Furthermore, SRS5 promotes photomorphogenesis by directly binding to the promoters of photomorphogenesis-promoting genes, such as HY5 , BBX21 , and BBX22 , and activating their expression, thus affecting the expression of downstream light-signaling genes. These data indicate that SRS5 acts in the upregulation of photomorphogenesis-promoting genes. In addition, CONSTITUTIVELY PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 (COP1), which plays a central repressive role in seedling photomorphogenesis, directly ubiquitinates SRS5, promoting its degradation in the dark. Taken together, our results demonstrate that SRS5 directly activates the expression of downstream genes HY5 , BBX21 , and BBX22 and is a target of COP1-mediated degradation in Arabidopsis., (© 2018 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.)

Plants exhibit reduced root growth when exposed to low temperature; however, how low temperature modulates root growth remains to be understood. Our study demonstrated that low temperature reduces both meristem size and cell number, repressing the division potential of meristematic cells by reducing auxin accumulation, possibly through the repressed expression of PIN1/3/7 and auxin biosynthesis-related genes, although the experiments with exogenous auxin application also suggest the involvement of other factor(s). In addition, we verified that ARABIDOPSIS RESPONSE REGULATOR 1 (ARR1) and ARR12 are involved in low temperature-mediated inhibition of root growth by showing that the roots of arr1-3 arr12-1 seedlings were less sensitive than wild-type roots to low temperature, in terms of changes in root length and meristem cell number. Furthermore, low temperature reduced the levels of PIN1/3 transcripts and the auxin level to a lesser extent in arr1-3 arr12-1 roots than in wild-type roots, suggesting that cytokinin signaling is involved in the low-temperature-mediated reduction of auxin accumulation. Taken together, our data suggest that low temperature inhibits root growth by reducing auxin accumulation via ARR1/12., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The heavy metal copper (Cu) is an essential microelement required for normal plant growth and development, but it inhibits primary root growth when in excess. The mechanism underlying how excess Cu functions in this process remains to be further elucidated. Here, we report that a higher concentration of CuSO4 inhibited primary root elongation of Arabidopsis seedlings by affecting both the elongation and meristem zones. In the meristem zone, meristematic cell division potential was reduced by excess Cu. Further experiments showed that Cu can modulate auxin distribution, resulting in higher auxin activities in both the elongation and meristem zones of Cu-treated roots based on DR5::GUS expression patterns. This Cu-mediated auxin redistribution was shown to be responsible for Cu-mediated inhibition of primary root elongation. Additional genetic and physiological data demonstrated that it was PINFORMED1 (PIN1), but not PIN2 or AUXIN1 (AUX1), that regulated this process. However, Cu-induced hydrogen peroxide accumulation did not contribute to Cu-induced auxin redistribution for inhibition of root elongation. When the possible role of ethylene in this process was analyzed, Cu had a similar impact on the root elongation of both the wild type and the ein2-1 mutant, implying that Cu-mediated inhibition of primary root elongation was not due to the ethylene signaling pathway.