Functional dissection of the DORNRÖSCHEN-LIKE enhancer 2 during embryonic and phyllotactic patterning

The Arabidopsis DORNRÖSCHEN-LIKE enhancer 2 comprises a high-occupancy target region in the IM periphery that integrates signals for the spiral phyllotactic pattern and cruciferous arrangement of sepals. Transcription of the DORNRÖSCHEN-LIKE (DRNL) gene marks lateral organ founder cells (LOFCs) in the peripheral zone of the inflorescence meristem (IM) and enhancer 2 (En2) in the DRNL promoter upstream region essentially contributes to this phyllotactic transcription pattern. Further analysis focused on the phylogenetically highly conserved 100-bp En2^core element, which was sufficient to promote the phyllotactic pattern, but was recalcitrant to further shortening. Here, we show that En2^core functions independent of orientation and create a series of mutations to study consequences on the transcription pattern. Their analysis shows that, first, in addition to in the inflorescence apex, En2^core acts in the embryo; second, cis-regulatory target sequences are distributed throughout the 100-bp element, although substantial differences exist in their function between embryo and IM. Third, putative core auxin response elements (AuxREs) spatially activate or restrict DRNL expression, and fourth, according to chromatin configuration data, En2^core enhancer activity in LOFCs correlates with an open chromatin structure at the DRNL transcription start. In combination, mutational and chromatin analyses imply that En2^core comprises a high-occupancy target (HOT) region for transcription factors, which implements phyllotactic information for the spiral LOFC pattern in the IM periphery and coordinates the cruciferous array of floral sepals. Our data disfavor a contribution of activating auxin response factors (ARFs) but do not exclude auxin as a morphogenetic signal.