Blue light receptor CRY1 regulates HSFA1d nuclear localization to promote plant thermotolerance
Jie Gao,
Runcong Zhang,
Lanjie Zheng,
Linhu Song,
Manchun Ji,
Shi Li,
Jinxi Wang,
Jianping Yang,
Guozhang Kang,
Paifeng Zhang,
Yong Shi,
Yongqing Jiao,
David Pincus,
Xu Zheng
Affiliations
Jie Gao
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Runcong Zhang
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Lanjie Zheng
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Linhu Song
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Manchun Ji
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Shi Li
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Jinxi Wang
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Jianping Yang
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Guozhang Kang
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Paifeng Zhang
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Yong Shi
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China; Corresponding author
Yongqing Jiao
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China; Corresponding author
David Pincus
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology and Center for Physics of Evolving Systems, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Corresponding author
Xu Zheng
College of Agronomy, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China; Corresponding author
Summary: Temperature increases as light intensity rises, but whether light signals can be directly linked to high temperature response in plants is unclear. Here, we find that light pre-treatment enables plants to survive better under high temperature, designated as light-induced thermotolerance (LIT). With short-term light treatment, plants induce light-signaling pathway genes and heat shock genes. Blue light photoreceptor cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) is required for LIT. We also find that CRY1 physically interacts with the heat shock transcription factor A1d (HsfA1d) and that HsfA1d is involved in thermotolerance under light treatment. Furthermore, CRY1 promotes HsfA1d nuclear localization through importin alpha 1 (IMPα1). Consistent with this, CRY1 shares more than half of the chromatin binding sites with HsfA1d. Mutation of CRY1 (cry1-304) diminishes a large number of HsfA1d binding sites that are shared with CRY1. We present a model where, by coupling light sensing to high-temperature stress, CRY1 confers thermotolerance in plants via HsfA1d.
