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Nutrient-driven TOR signalling controls a chromatin-associated complex for orchestrating plant growth and stress
Xin Wang1,2, Zhen-Zhen Liu2, Dan-Yang Yuan2
1College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
None:
The conserved target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase acts as a master regulator of growth by integrating nutrient and environmental signals in eukaryotes. However, how TOR influences chromatin remains poorly understood. Here we identified a multi-subunit complex in Arabidopsis thaliana, termed the chromatin-associated complex for growth (CACG). Our findings indicate that under nutrient-rich conditions, active TOR kinase enhances CACG mRNA translation, which is facilitated by pyrimidine-rich motifs in their 5' untranslated regions. CACG components co-occupy stress-responsive genes marked by histone acetylation, repressing their transcription to promote growth. Conversely, under nutrient-deficient conditions, inactive TOR reduces CACG mRNA translation, relieving transcriptional repression of stress-responsive genes and leading to increased stress tolerance but impaired growth. These results indicate that the CACG complex acts as a critical nutrient-responsive transcriptional regulator that is required for coordinating plant growth and stress tolerance in a TOR-dependent manner. The molecular mechanism revealed here could aid in developing high-yield crops capable of thriving in adverse environments.
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