HY5 and phytochrome activity modulate shoot to root coordination during thermomorphogenesis

Abstract

Temperature is one of the most impactful environmental factors to which plants adjust their growth and development. While the regulation of temperature signaling has been extensively investigated for the aerial part of plants, much less is known and understood about how roots sense and modulate their growth in response to fluctuating temperatures. Here we found that shoot and root growth responses to high ambient temperature are coordinated during early seedling development. A shoot signaling module that includes HY5, the phytochromes and the PIFs exerts a central function in coupling these growth responses and maintain auxin levels in the root. In addition to the HY5/PIF-dependent shoot module, a regulatory axis composed of auxin biosynthesis and auxin perception factors controls root responses to high ambient temperature. Together, our findings show that shoot and root developmental responses to temperature are tightly coupled during thermomorphogenesis and suggest that roots integrate energy signals with local hormonal inputs.