SOC1 clade genes coordinate lateral root development and response to multiple phytohormonal and environmental stress...

Plant root system architecture (RSA) underlies water and nutrient acquisition and is highly plastic in response to environmental fluctuations. While MADS-box transcription factors are best known for regulating flowering and floral development, their roles in root development and stress adaptation remain poorly understood. Here, we identify the SOC1-clade MADS-box genes (AGL14, AGL19, and SOC1) as a redundant regulatory module integrating auxin signaling with environmental cues to control lateral root (LR) development. AGL14 is strongly and specifically expressed in the root vascular cylinder and lateral root primordia (LRPs) throughout all developmental stages. Overexpression of AGL14 enhances LR numbers, whereas loss-of-function mutants show reduced LR formation. Mechanistically, AGL14 promotes auxin accumulation in LRPs accompanied by higher expression levels of auxin transporters (PIN1, PIN4, LAX3) and biosynthetic genes (YUC3, YUC8, AMI1). AGL19 and SOC1 exhibit overlapping expression patterns and act redundantly with AGL14 to maintain auxin homeostasis and LR formation. All three SOC1-clade genes are transcriptionally induced by auxin and nitrogen deficiency but repressed by abscisic acid, osmotic stress, and salinity, positioning them as a potential node linking hormonal and environmental signaling networks. Our findings uncover a new role for SOC1-clade genes in LR developmental plasticity, providing new targets for optimizing RSA to enhance crop resilience under nutrient and water limitations.