Plant Environmental Signal Perception and Response
Team name
Plant Environmental Signal Perception and Response
Principal Investigator
Research Objectives
With China entering an aging society and undergoing urbanization, agricultural mechanization has become a future trend. However, in mechanized sowing, the low uniformity of seedling emergence and survival rates result in significant seed losses and severely affect the precise distribution of crops.
Our group is dedicated to studying the adaptability of Arabidopsis and soybeans to terrestrial soil environments, with a focus on the molecular regulatory mechanisms of seed germination, seedling emergence from the soil, and the subsequent greening and survival upon emergence. Our main research areas include:
1) The regulatory mechanisms of different soil environments on plant seed germination, seedling growth and development, and emergence and survival from the soil.
2) The molecular networks involving various environmental factors and endogenous hormones that collectively regulate seedling morphogenesis during emergence.
3) Chlorophyll synthesis, chloroplast development, and molecular mechanisms underlying seedling resistance to photooxidative damage.
4) Molecular signaling pathways involved in plant mechanical stress perception and response (plant mechanoperception).
By identifying the key genes and pathways involved in seedling soil emergence in both Arabidopsis and crops, we can develop new strategies for optimizing seedling establishment in various agricultural and ecological contexts.
Research Projects
l Trait discovery for leaf blight in maize (2021-2024)，National Science Foundation of China. Project objectives: XXXX.
Research Achievements
l Calcium-mediated phototransduction:
In subterranean darkness, phytochrome B (phyB), the main photoreceptor and temperature sensor in plants, accumulates exclusively in large abundance in the cytoplasm. Upon emergence to reach light, massive phyB proteins rapidly enter the nucleus to initiate de-etiolation, yet the regulatory mechanism remains unknown. Our studies demonstrate that that red light triggers an acute cytosolic Ca2+ transient required for light-induced physiological responses. We have identified two Ca2+ binding protein kinases, CPK6 and CPK12, as sensors that relay Ca2+ signals to photoresponsive genes. Furthermore, CPK6 and CPK12 directly interact with and phosphorylate phyB at Ser80 and Ser106 in a manner that is dependent on the presence of both Ca2+ and light, through which it determines the nuclear import of phyB. This study reveals that phyB phosphorylation, controlled by a Ca2+-based sensory system, determines phyB nuclear translocation,filling a long-standing gap in the knowledge of plant phototransduction (Cell, 2023).
l Integrated sensation of light and temperature signals in plants:
Temperature fluctuations significantly impact plant survival. How temperature is sensed in plants has aroused much speculation. Our studies have revealed that photoactivated phyB undergoes phase separation to form liquid-like droplets in both plants and mammalian cells. This process is driven by the self-oligomerizing C-terminus and modified by the intrinsically disordered N-terminal extension (NTE). Temperature signals are sensed directly by the NTE to modulate the phase behavior of phyB droplets.Moreover, using Pfr conformer-locked phyB (YHB) proteins and transgenic plants, we have demonstrated that YHB eliminates the responsiveness to light but maintains its phase separation capacity and normal thermoresponsiveness(Fig. 2B). These elegant molecular and genetic experiments reveal a conceptual framework showing that the distinct but highly correlated light and thermal signals are sensed and sorted by a common receptor phyB via allosteric changes and phase separation, respectively.This important work has been chosen as the cover article and featured in Molecular Cell and Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (Molecular Cell, 2022, Cover article).
Selected Publications
Zhao Y., Shi H., Pan Y., Lyu M., Yang Z., Kou X., Deng X.,Zhong, S.* (2023), Sensory circuitry controls cytosolic calcium-mediated phytochrome B phototransduction, Cell186,1230-1243.
Shi H.*, Zhong, S.* (2023), Light and temperature perceptions go through a phase separation, Current Opinion in Plant Biology74,102397.(Invited review)
Chen D., Lyu M., Kou X., Li J., Yang Z., Gao L., Li Y., Fan L., Shi H., Zhong, S.* (2022), Integration of light and temperature sensing by liquid-liquid phase separation of phytochrome B, Molecular Cell82, 3015-3029. (Cover article)