Sun Yat-sen University Team Reveals New Mechanism for Gene Transcriptional Activation Mediated by Brassinosteroid Signaling
Published:01 Mar.2024 Source:BioArt Plant
A research team led by Professor Li Chenlong from Sun Yat-sen University recently published a study in Developmental Cell, collaborating with Professor Wang Zhiyong’s team from Carnegie Institution for Science. The study revealed the molecular mechanism through which the brassinosteroid (BR) signaling pathway transcription factor BZR1 activates the expression of downstream genes.
The study found that BZR1 can interact with the chromatin remodeling complex BAS and specifically recruit BAS to the promoters of BR-induced genes. This increases the chromatin accessibility of these genomic regions and activates the expression of BR-induced growth-related genes. The BAS-mediated chromatin remodeling process is essential for BZR1’s transcriptional activation activity. The transcriptional activation complex formed by BZR1 and BAS regulates the activation of BR response genes, which is indispensable for normal plant growth and development.
The study elucidated the molecular mechanism underlying gene expression activation in the BR signaling pathway, providing a mechanistic explanation of how BR signaling promotes various growth and developmental processes in plants. This will help understand how multicellular organisms coordinate complex biological processes by regulating chromatin structures to control gene expression patterns.