Research

Publications
Title: Rewiring of hormones and light response pathways underlies the inhibition of stomatal development in an amphibious plant Rorippa aquatica underwater
First author: Ikematsu, Shuka; Umase, Tatsushi; Shiozaki, Mako; Nakayama, Sodai; Noguchi, Fuko; Sakamoto, Tomoaki; Hou, Hongwei; Gohari, Gholamreza; Kimura, Seisuke; Torii, Keiko U.
Journal: CURRENT BIOLOGY
Years: 2023
Volume / issue: /
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.12.064
Abstract: Land plants have evolved the ability to cope with submergence. Amphibious plants are adapted to both aerial and aquatic environments through phenotypic plasticity in leaf form and function, known as heterophylly. In general, underwater leaves of amphibious plants are devoid of stomata, yet their molecular regulatory mech-anisms remain elusive. Using the emerging model of the Brassicaceae amphibious species Rorippa aquatica, we lay the foundation for the molecular physiological basis of the submergence-triggered inhibition of stoma-tal development. A series of temperature shift experiments showed that submergence-induced inhibition of stomatal development is largely uncoupled from morphological heterophylly and likely regulated by indepen-dent pathways. Submergence-responsive transcriptome analysis revealed rapid reprogramming of gene expression, exemplified by the suppression of RaSPEECHLESS and RaMUTE within 1 h and the involvement of light and hormones in the developmental switch from terrestrial to submerged leaves. Further physiolog-ical studies place ethylene as a central regulator of the submergence-triggered inhibition of stomatal devel-opment. Surprisingly, red and blue light have opposing functions in this process: blue light promotes, whereas red light inhibits stomatal development, through influencing the ethylene pathway. Finally, jasmonic acid counteracts the inhibition of stomatal development, which can be attenuated by the red light. The actions and interactions of light and hormone pathways in regulating stomatal development in R. aquatica are different from those in the terrestrial species, Arabidopsis thaliana. Thus, our work suggests that extensive rewiring events of red light to ethylene signaling might underlie the evolutionary adaption to water environment in Brassicaceae.