Plant dual‐specificity tyrosine phosphorylation‐regulated kinase optimizes light‐regulated growth and development in Arabidopsis

Abstract

Light controls vegetative and reproductive development of plants. For a plant, sensing the light input properly ensures coordination with the ever-changing environment. Previously, we found that LIGHT-REGULATED WD1 (LWD1) and LWD2 regulate the circadian clock and photoperiodic flowering. Here, we identified Arabidopsis YET ANOTHER KINASE1 (AtYAK1), an evolutionarily conserved protein and a member of dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinases (DYRKs), as an interacting protein of LWDs. Our study revealed that AtYAK1 is an important regulator for various light responses, including the circadian clock, photomorphogenesis and reproductive development. AtYAK1 could antagonize the function of LWDs in regulating the circadian clock and photoperiodic flowering. By examining phenotypes of atyak1, we found that AtYAK1 regulated light-induced period-length shortening and photomorphogenic development. Moreover, AtYAK1 mediated plant fertility especially under inferior light conditions including low light and short-day length. This study discloses a new regulator connecting environmental light to plant growth.

A TOR-YAK1 signaling axis controls cell cycle, meristem activity and plant growth in Arabidopsis

“…Therefore, the TOR pathway is likely to act as a central integrator of the hormone crosstalk regulating meristem activity (Barrada et al, 2015) together with the control of cell cycle effectors as we have shown in this work. Interestingly, YAK1 interacts with circadian clock components and is required for the optimization of photomorphogenesis and reproductive development (Huang et al, 2017), underscoring the role of YAK1 in shoot and flower development, two processes also regulated by TOR (Bakshi et al, 2017;Deprost et al, 2007;Moreau et al, 2012;Ren et al, 2012). At the metabolic level, TOR and YAK1 have antagonist roles in the regulation of triacylglycerol accumulation in algae (Imamura et al, 2016;Kajikawa et al, 2015;Prioretti et al, 2017).…”

“…1A). Because yak1 loss-of-function T-DNA insertion mutants have previously been reported ( yak1-1, yak1-2 and yak1-3; Huang et al, 2017;Kim et al, 2015), the new alleles were named yak1-4, yak1-5 and yak1-6 and a new loss-of-function T-DNA mutant was named yak1-7 ( Fig. 1A,B).…”

“…This allowed us to identify three allelic mutants for which the phenotype was conditional to TOR inhibition. The gene responsible encodes a member of the DYRK (dual specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase) family (Aranda et al, 2011), AtDYRK1A (Karpov et al, 2014) also named AtYAK1 (YET ANOTHER KINASE 1, named hereafter YAK1), which was previously reported to participate in abscisic acid (ABA) response and to optimize light-regulated growth in Arabidopsis (Huang et al, 2017;Kim et al, 2015). We found that loss-of-function mutations in Arabidopsis YAK1, as well as ATP-competitive DYRK1A inhibitors, prevent and partially rescue, respectively, the root growth inhibition and meristem downsizing induced by TOR inhibition.…”

Dehydration‐responsive nuclear proteome landscape of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) reveals phosphorylation‐mediated regulation of stress response

“…They play distinct role in constitutive and alternative splicing as well as RNA metabolism (Haynes & Iakoucheva, ). A recent study in Arabidopsis revealed that a dual‐specificity tyrosine phosphorylation regulated kinase binds with LWD1 and monitors light‐dependent growth and development (Huang et al, ). We observed the precise tyrosine phosphorylation sites of LWD1 and LWD13 and demonstrated dehydration‐responsive alteration in their phosphorylation status.…”

“…We observed the precise tyrosine phosphorylation sites of LWD1 and LWD13 and demonstrated dehydration‐responsive alteration in their phosphorylation status. Previously, LWD1 and LWD13 were implicated in light‐dependent plant growth and development (Huang et al, ), besides photoperiod sensing and flowering (Wu, Wang, & Wu, ). However, they have never been reported to participate in stress response, particularly dehydration.…”