AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR thermostability.

Plants use the plant hormone auxin to incorporate environmental cues into their growth and development to shape the final form. Temperature is an important modulator of all aspects of plant function and growth. In this work, we uncover temperature-regulated accumulation and solubility of members of the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR transcription factor family. We determine that ARF7 and ARF19 proteins rapidly hyperaccumulate in response to elevated temperature. Furthermore, we find that diffuse concentrations of ARF protein increase under elevated temperature, consistent with increased solubility. Temperature-driven ARF hyperaccumulation is not fully dependent on the well-established temperature response pathways. We find that natural variation in thermoregulated ARF accumulation is correlated with thermomorphogenesis, suggesting that this is a dial switch in plant temperature response. Regulated ARF thermoaccumulation provides a layer of complexity in shaping and plant growth and form, allowing plants to respond rapidly and persistently to elevated temperatures by modulating levels of nuclear ARF protein accumulation.

Duke Scholars

Author Lucia Carol Strader Biology

Author Katelyn Sageman-Furnas