
Polycomb Repressive Complexes (PRC1 and PRC2) regulate developmental transitions in plants. AtBMI1, a PRC1 member, represses micro RNA156 (miR156) to trigger the onset of adult phase in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). miR156 overexpression (OE) reduces below-ground tuber yield, but stimulates aerial tubers in potato (Solanum tuberosum ssp andigena) under short-day (SD) photoperiodic conditions. Whether PRC members could govern tuber development through photoperiod-mediated regulation of miR156 is unknown. Here, we investigated the role of two PRC proteins, StMSI1 (PRC2 member) and StBMI1-1, in potato development. In wild-type andigena plants, StMSI1 and miR156 levels increased in stolon, whereas StBMI1-1 decreased under SD conditions. StMSI1-OE and StBMI1-1-antisense (AS) lines produced pleiotropic effects, including altered leaf architecture/compounding and reduced below-ground tuber yield. Notably, these lines showed enhanced miR156 accumulation accompanied by aerial stolons and tubers from axillary nodes, similar to miR156-OE lines. Further, grafting of StMSI1-OE or StBMI1-1-AS on wild-type stock resulted in reduced root biomass and showed increased accumulation of miR156a/b and -c precursors in the roots of wild-type stocks. RNA-sequencing of axillary nodes from StMSI1-OE and StBMI1-1-AS lines revealed downregulation of auxin and brassinosteroid genes, and upregulation of cytokinin transport/signaling genes, from 1,023 differentially expressed genes shared between the two lines. Moreover, we observed downregulation of genes encoding H2A-ubiquitin ligase and StBMI1-1/3, and upregulation of Trithorax group H3K4-methyl-transferases in StMSI1-OE Chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR confirmed H3K27me3-mediated suppression of StBMI1-1/3, and H3K4me3-mediated activation of miR156 in StMSI1-OE plants. In summary, we show that cross talk between histone modifiers regulates miR156 and alters hormonal response during aerial tuber formation in potato under SD conditions.
Plant Tubers, Indoleacetic Acids, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, Brassinosteroids, Plants, Genetically Modified, Plant Proteins, Solanum tuberosum
Plant Tubers, Indoleacetic Acids, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, Brassinosteroids, Plants, Genetically Modified, Plant Proteins, Solanum tuberosum
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