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The VILLIN (VLN) protein is an important regulator of the actin cytoskeleton, which orchestrates many developmental processes and participates in various biotic and abiotic responses in plants. Although the VLN gene family and their potential functions have been analyzed in several plants, knowledge of VLN genes in soybeans and legumes remains rather limited. In this study, a total of 35 VLNs were characterized from soybean and five related legumes. Combining with the VLN sequences from other nine land plants, we categorized the VLN gene family into three groups according to phylogenetic relationships. Further detailed analysis of the soybean VLNs indicated that the ten GmVLNs were distributed on 10 of the 20 chromosomes, and their gene structures and protein motifs showed high group specificities. The expression pattern analysis suggested that most GmVLNs are widely expressed in various tissues, but three members have a very high level in seeds. Moreover, we observed that the cis−elements enriched in the promoters of GmVLNs are mainly related to abiotic stresses, hormone signals, and developmental processes. The largest number of cis−elements were associated with light responses, and two GmVLNs, GmVLN5a, and GmVLN5b were significantly increased under the long light condition. This study not only provides some basic information about the VLN gene family but also provides a good reference for further characterizing the diverse functions of VLN genes in soybeans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant-specific WOX family transcription factors play important roles ranging from embryogenesis to lateral organ development. The WOX1 transcription factors, which belong to the modern clade of the WOX family, are known to regulate outgrowth of the leaf blade specifically in the mediolateral axis; however, the role of WOX1 in compound leaf development remains unknown. Phylogenetic analysis of the whole WOX family in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) indicates that there are 10 members that represent the modern, intermediate, and ancient clades. Using phylogenetic analysis and a reverse genetic approach, in this study we identified SlLAM1 in the modern clade and examined its function and tissue-specific expression pattern. We found that knocking out SlLAM1 via CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing led to narrow leaves and a reduced number of secondary leaflets. Overexpression of tomato SlLAM1 could rescue the defects of the tobacco lam1 mutant. Anatomical and transcriptomic analyses demonstrated that floral organ development, fruit size, secondary leaflet initiation, and leaf complexity were altered due to loss-of-function of SlLAM1. These findings demonstrate that tomato SlLAM1 plays an important role in the regulation of secondary leaflet initiation, in addition to its conserved function in blade expansion., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)