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The shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) refers to a set of plant responses initiated after perception by the phytochromes of light with a reduced red to far-red ratio, indicative of vegetation proximity or shade. These responses, including elongation growth, anticipate eventual shading from potential competitor vegetation by overgrowing neighboring plants or flowering to ensure production of viable seeds for the next generation. In Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings, the SAS includes dramatic changes in gene expression, such as induction of PHYTOCHROME RAPIDLY REGULATED 1 (PAR1), encoding an atypical basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein that acts as a transcriptional co-factor to repress hypocotyl elongation. Indeed, PAR1 has been proposed to act fundamentally as a dominant negative antagonist of conventional bHLH transcription factors by forming heterodimers with them to prevent their binding to DNA or other transcription factors. Here we report the identification of PAR1-interacting factors, including the brassinosteroid signaling components BR-ENHANCED EXPRESSION (BEE) and BES1-INTERACTING MYC-LIKE (BIM), and characterize their role as networked positive regulators of SAS hypocotyl responses. We provide genetic evidence that these bHLH transcriptional regulators not only control plant growth and development under shade and non-shade conditions, but are also redundant in the control of plant viability. Our results suggest that SAS responses are initiated as a consequence of a new balance of transcriptional regulators within the pre-existing bHLH network triggered by plant proximity, eventually causing hypocotyls to elongate., (© 2013 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Unlike the situation in animals, the final morphology of the plant body is highly modulated by the environment. During Arabidopsis development, intrinsic factors provide the framework for basic patterning processes. CLASS III HOMEODOMAIN LEUCINE ZIPPER (HD-ZIPIII) transcription factors are involved in embryo, shoot and root patterning. During vegetative growth HD-ZIPIII proteins control several polarity set-up processes such as in leaves and the vascular system. We have identified several direct target genes of the HD-ZIPIII transcription factor REVOLUTA (REV) using a chromatin immunoprecipitation/DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq) approach. This analysis revealed that REV acts upstream of auxin biosynthesis and affects directly the expression of several class II HD-ZIP transcription factors that have been shown to act in the shade-avoidance response pathway. We show that, as well as involvement in basic patterning, HD-ZIPIII transcription factors have a critical role in the control of the elongation growth that is induced when plants experience shade. Leaf polarity is established by the opposed actions of HD-ZIPIII and KANADI transcription factors. Finally, our study reveals that the module that consists of HD-ZIPIII/KANADI transcription factors controls shade growth antagonistically and that this antagonism is manifested in the opposed regulation of shared target genes., (© 2012 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

The shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) refers to a set of plant responses aimed at anticipating eventual shading by potential competitors. The SAS is initiated after perception of nearby vegetation as a reduction in the red to far-red ratio (R:FR) of the incoming light. Low R:FR light is perceived by the phytochromes, triggering dramatic changes in gene expression that, in seedlings, eventually result in an increased hypocotyl elongation to overgrow competitors. This response is inhibited by genes such as PHYTOCHROME RAPIDLY REGULATED 1 (PAR1), PAR2 and LONG HYPOCOTYL IN FR 1 (HFR1), which are transcriptionally induced by low R:FR. Although PAR1/PAR2 and HFR1 proteins belong to different groups of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcriptional regulators, they all lack a typical basic domain required for binding to E-box and G-box motifs in the promoter of target genes. By overexpressing derivatives of PAR1 and HFR1 we show that these proteins are actually transcriptional cofactors that do not need to bind DNA to directly regulate transcription. We conclude that protein-protein interactions involving the HLH domain of PAR1 and HFR1 are a fundamental aspect of the mechanism by which these proteins regulate gene expression, most likely through interaction with true transcription factors that do bind to the target genes and eventually unleash the observed SAS responses., (© 2011 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)

Plants sense the presence of competing neighboring vegetation as a change in light quality: i.e. they sense the reduced ratio of red light to far-red light. The responses to shade are generally referred to as the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS), and involve various developmental changes intended to outgrow or outcompete the neighboring plants. Here, we analyze the function of ATHB4, a gene encoding a homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) class-II transcription factor from Arabidopsis thaliana, the expression of which is rapidly and directly upregulated after proximity perception by the phytochrome photoreceptors. ATHB4 acts redundantly with other members of the HD-Zip class-II transcription factors. The expression of these genes is regulated by other members of the same class, forming a small transcriptional network of factors in which homeostasis is mutually controlled. Our results suggest that some members of this small gene subfamily can modulate SAS responses by controlling auxin, brassinosteroid and gibberellin molecular and/or physiological responsiveness. In particular, we propose ATHB4 as a new shade signaling component that participates in integrating shade perception and hormone-mediated growth.