Genome-Wide Analysis of Nuclear factor-YC Genes in the Tea Plant (Camellia sinensis) and Functional Identification of CsNF-YC6

Nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) is a class of transcription factors consisting of NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC subunits, which are widely distributed in eukaryotes. The NF-YC subunit regulates plant growth and development and plays an important role in the response to stresses. However, there are few reports on this gene subfamily in tea plants. In this study, nine CsNF-YC genes were identified in the genome of 'Longjing 43'. Their phylogeny, gene structure, promoter cis-acting elements, motifs and chromosomal localization of these gene were analyzed. Tissue expression characterization revealed that most of the CsNF-YCs were expressed at low levels in the terminal buds and at relatively high levels in the flowers and roots. CsNF-YC genes responded significantly to gibberellic acid (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) treatments. We further focused on CsNF-YC6 because it may be involved in the growth and development of tea plants and the regulation of response to abiotic stresses. The CsNF-YC6 protein is localized in the nucleus. Arabidopsis that overexpressed CsNF-YC6 (CsNF-YC6-OE) showed increased seed germination and increased root length under ABA and GA treatments. In addition, the number of cauline leaves, stem lengths and silique numbers were significantly higher in overexpressing Arabidopsis lines than wild type under long-day growth conditions, and CsNF-YC6 promoted primary root growth and increased flowering in Arabidopsis. qPCR analysis showed that in CsNF-YC6-OE lines, flowering pathway-related genes were transcribed at higher levels than wild type. The investigation of the CsNF-YC gene has unveiled that CsNF-YC6 plays a pivotal role in plant growth, root and flower development, as well as responses to abiotic stress.

NFYC-37 promotes tumor growth by activating the mevalonate pathway in bladder cancer

Dysregulation of transcription is a hallmark of cancer, including bladder cancer (BLCA). CRISPR-Cas9 screening using a lentivirus library with single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) targeting human transcription factors and chromatin modifiers is used to reveal genes critical for the proliferation and survival of BLCA cells. As a result, the nuclear transcription factor Y subunit gamma (NFYC)-37, but not NFYC-50, is observed to promote cell proliferation and tumor growth in BLCA. Mechanistically, NFYC-37 interacts with CBP and SREBP2 to activate mevalonate pathway transcription, promoting cholesterol biosynthesis. However, NFYC-50 recruits more of the arginine methyltransferase CARM1 than NFYC-37 to methylate CBP, which prevents the CBP-SREBP2 interaction and subsequently inhibits the mevalonate pathway. Importantly, statins targeting the mevalonate pathway can suppress NFYC-37-induced cell proliferation and tumor growth, indicating the need for conducting a clinical trial with statins for treating patients with BLCA and high NFYC-37 levels, as most patients with BLCA have high NFYC-37 levels.

Comprehensive Analyses of Four PtoNF-YC Genes from Populus tomentosa and Impacts on Flowering Timing

Flowering is an important link in the life process of angiosperms, and it is also an important sign of the transformation of plants from vegetative to reproductive growth. Although the flowering regulation network of Arabidopsis is well-understood, there has been little research on the molecular mechanisms of perennial woody plant flower development regulation. Populus tomentosa is a unique Chinese poplar species with fast growth, strong ecological adaptability, and a long lifecycle. However, it has a long juvenile phase, which seriously affects its breeding process. Nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y) is an important type of transcription factor involved in the regulation of plant flowering. However, there are few reports on PtoNF-Y gene flowering regulation, and the members of the PtNF-YC subfamily are unknown. In this study, four key genes were cloned and analyzed for sequence characteristics, gene structure, genetic evolution, expression patterns, and subcellular localization. The plant expression vector was further constructed, and transgenic Arabidopsis and P. tomentosa plants were obtained through genetic transformation and a series of molecular tests. The flowering time and other growth characteristics were analyzed. Finally, the expression level of flowering genes was detected by quantitative PCR, the interaction between PtoNF-YC and PtoCOL proteins was measured using the yeast two-hybrid system to further explain the flowering regulation mechanism, and the molecular mechanisms by which PtNF-YC6 and PtNF-YC8 regulate poplar flowering were discussed. These results lay the foundation for elucidating the molecular regulation mechanism of PtoNF-YC in flowering and furthering the molecular design and breeding of poplar, while providing a reference for other flowering woody plants.

NF-YCs modulate histone variant H2A.Z deposition to regulate photomorphogenic growth in Arabidopsis

In plants, light signals trigger a photomorphogenic program involving transcriptome changes, epigenetic regulation, and inhibited hypocotyl elongation. The evolutionarily conserved histone variant H2A.Z, which functions in transcriptional regulation, is deposited in chromatin by the SWI2/SNF2-RELATED 1 complex (SWR1c). However, the role of H2A.Z in photomorphogenesis and its deposition mechanism remain unclear. Here, we show that in Arabidopsis thaliana, H2A.Z deposition at its target loci is induced by light irradiation via NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y, subunit C (NF-YC) proteins, thereby inhibiting photomorphogenic growth. NF-YCs physically interact with ACTIN-RELATED PROTEIN6 (ARP6), a key component of the SWR1c that is essential for depositing H2A.Z, in a light-dependent manner. NF-YCs and ARP6 function together as negative regulators of hypocotyl growth by depositing H2A.Z at their target genes during photomorphogenesis. Our findings reveal an important role for the histone variant H2A.Z in photomorphogenic growth and provide insights into a novel transcription regulatory node that mediates H2A.Z deposition to control plant growth in response to changing light conditions.

Arabidopsis ABF3 and ABF4 Transcription Factors Act with the NF-YC Complex to Regulate SOC1 Expression and Mediate Drought-Accelerated Flowering

The drought-escape response accelerates flowering in response to drought stress, allowing plants to adaptively shorten their life cycles. Abscisic acid (ABA) mediates plant responses to drought, but the role of ABA-responsive element (ABRE)-binding factors (ABFs) in the drought-escape response is poorly understood. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana ABF3 and ABF4 regulate flowering in response to drought through transcriptional regulation of the floral integrator SUPPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS1 (SOC1). The abf3 abf4 mutant displayed ABA-insensitive late flowering under long-day conditions. Ectopic expression of ABF3 or ABF4 in the vasculature, but not in the shoot apex, induced early flowering, whereas expression of ABF3 fused with the SRDX transcriptional repressor domain delayed flowering. We identified SOC1 as a direct downstream target of ABF3/4, and found that SOC1 mRNA levels were lower in abf3 abf4 than in wild-type plants. Moreover, induction of SOC1 by ABA was hampered in abf3 abf4 mutants. ABF3 and ABF4 were enriched at the -1028- to -657-bp region of the SOC1 promoter, which does not contain canonical ABF-ABRE-binding motifs but has the NF-Y binding element. We found that ABF3 and ABF4 interact with nuclear factor Y subunit C (NF-YC) 3/4/9 in vitro and in planta, and induction of SOC1 by ABA was hampered in nf-yc3 yc4 yc9 mutants. Interestingly, the abf3 abf4, nf-yc3 yc4 yc9, and soc1 mutants displayed a reduced drought-escape response. Taken together, these results suggest that ABF3 and ABF4 act with NF-YCs to promote flowering by inducing SOC1 transcription under drought conditions. This mechanism might contribute to adaptation by enabling plants to complete their life cycles under drought stress.

Overexpression of a NF-YC Gene Results in Enhanced Drought and Salt Tolerance in Transgenic Seashore Paspalum

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum O. Swartz) is an important warm-season turfgrass species. In this study we generated transgenic seashore paspalum overexpressing CdtNF-YC1, a nuclear factor Y transcription factor from hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon × Cynodon transvaalensis). DNA blot hybridization and qRT-PCR analysis showed that CdtNF-YC1 was integrated into the genomes of transgenic seashore paspalum plants and expressed. Reduced relative water content (RWC) and survival rate and increased ion leakage were observed in both wild type (WT) and transgenic plants after drought stress, while transgenic plants had higher levels of RWC and survival rate and lower ion leakage than the WT. Maximal photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (F v/F m), chlorophyll concentration and survival rate were decreased after salt stress, while higher levels were maintained in transgenic plants than in WT. In addition, an increased Na+ content and decreased or unaltered K+ in leaves and roots were observed after salt treatment, while lower level of Na+ and higher levels of K+ and K+/ Na+ ratio were maintained in transgenic plants than in WT. The results indicated that overexpressing CdtNF-YC1 resulted in enhanced drought and salt tolerance in transgenic plants. Transcript levels of stress responsive genes including PvLEA3, PvP5CS1, PvABI2, and PvDREB1B were induced in response to drought and salt stress, and higher levels were observed in transgenic seashore paspalum than in WT. The results suggest that the enhanced drought and salt tolerance in transgenic seashore paspalum is associated with induction of a series of stress responsive genes as a result of overexpression of CdtNF-YC1.

The garlic NF-YC gene, AsNF-YC8, positively regulates non-ionic hyperosmotic stress tolerance in tobacco

To investigate the relationship between nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) and stress tolerance in garlic, we cloned a NF-Y family gene AsNF-YC8 from garlic, which was largely upregulated at dehydrate stage. Expression pattern analyses in garlic revealed that AsNF-YC8 is induced through abscisic acid (ABA) and abiotic stresses, such as NaCl and PEG. Compared with wild-type plants, the overexpressing-AsNF-YC8 transgenic tobacco plants showed higher seed germination rates, longer root length and better plant growth under salt and drought stresses. Under drought stress, the transgenic plants maintained higher relative water content (RWC), net photosynthesis, lower levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), and less ion leakage (IL) than wild-type control plants. These results indicate the high tolerance of the transgenic plants to drought stress compared to the WT. The transgenic tobacco lines accumulated less reactive oxygen species (ROS) and exhibited higher antioxidative enzyme activities compared with wild-type (WT) plants under drought stress, which suggested that the overexpression of AsNF-YC8 improves the antioxidant defense system by regulating the activities of these antioxidant enzymes, which in turn protect transgenic lines against drought stress. These results suggest that AsNF-YC8 plays an important role in tolerance to drought and salt stresses.

Arabidopsis NF-YCs Mediate the Light-Controlled Hypocotyl Elongation via Modulating Histone Acetylation

Light is a crucial environmental signal that promotes photomorphogenesis, the developmental process with a series of light-dependent alterations for plants to adapt various external challenges. Chromatin modification has been proposed to be involved in such light-mediated growth, but the underlying mechanism is still elusive. In this study, we identified four Arabidopsis thaliana Nuclear Factor-YC homologs, NF-YC1, NF-YC3, NF-YC4, and NF-YC9 (NF-YCs), which function redundantly as repressors of light-controlled hypocotyl elongation via histone deacetylation. Obvious etiolation phenotypes are observed in NF-YCs loss-of-function mutant seedlings grown under light conditions, including significant elongated hypocotyls and fewer opened cotyledons. We found that NF-YCs interact with histone deacetylase HDA15 in the light, co-target the promoters of a set of hypocotyl elongation-related genes, and modulate the levels of histone H4 acetylation on the associated chromatins, thus repressing gene expression. In contrast, NF-YC-HDA15 complex is dismissed from the target genes in the dark, resulting in increased level of H4 acetylation and consequent etiolated growth. Further analyses revealed that transcriptional repression activity of NF-YCs on the light-controlled hypocotyl elongation partially depends on the deacetylation activity of HDA15, and loss of HDA15 function could rescue the short-hypocotyl phenotype of NF-YCs overexpression plants. Taken together, our results indicate that NF-YC1, NF-YC3, NF-YC4, and NF-YC9 function as transcriptional co-repressors by interacting with HDA15 to inhibit hypocotyl elongation in photomorphogenesis during the early seedling stage. Our findings highlight that NF-YCs can modulate plant development in response to environmental cues via epigenetic regulation.

The overexpression of an Amaranthus hypochondriacus NF-YC gene modifies growth and confers water deficit stress resistance in Arabidopsis

Nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y), is a plant heterotrimeric transcription factor constituted by NF-YA, NF-YB and NF-YC subunits. The function of many NF-Y subunits, mostly of the A and B type, has been studied in plants, but knowledge regarding the C subunit remains fragmentary. Here, a water stress-induced NF-YC gene from Amaranthus hypochondriacus (AhNF-YC) was further characterized by its overexpression in transgenic Arabidospis thaliana plants. A role in development was inferred from modified growth rates in root, rosettes and inflorescences recorded in AhNF-YC overexpressing Arabidopsis plants, in addition to a delayed onset of flowering. Also, the overexpression of AhNF-YC caused increased seedling sensitivity to abscisic acid (ABA), and influenced the expression of several genes involved in secondary metabolism, development and ABA-related responses. An altered expression of the latter in water stressed and recovered transgenic plants, together with the observed increase in ABA sensitivity, suggested that their increased water stress resistance was partly ABA-dependent. An untargeted metabolomic analysis also revealed an altered metabolite pattern, both in normal and water stress/recovery conditions. These results suggest that AhNF-YC may play an important regulatory role in both development and stress, and represents a candidate gene for the engineering of abiotic stress resistance in commercial crops.