Allelic shift in cis-elements of the transcription factor RAP2.12 underlies adaptation associated with humidity in Arabidopsis thaliana

作者：Shangling Lou, Xiang Guo, Lian Liu, Yan Song, Lei Zhang, Yuanzhong Jiang, Lushui Zhang, Pengchuan Sun, Bao Liu, Shaofei Tong, Ningning Chen, Meng Liu, Han Zhang, Ruyun Liang, Xiaoqin Feng, Yudan Zheng, Huanhuan Liu, Michael J. Holdsworth, Jianquan Liu · 发表于：Science Advances · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1126/sciadv.abn8281 · 被引用次数：49 · 研究领域：Plant responses to water stress、Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism、Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance

Populations of widespread species are usually geographically distributed through contrasting stresses, but underlying genetic mechanisms controlling this adaptation remain largely unknown. Here, we show that in Arabidopsis thaliana , allelic changes in the cis-regulatory elements, WT box and W box, in the promoter of a key transcription factor associated with oxygen sensing, RELATED TO AP 2.12 (RAP2.12), are responsible for differentially regulating tolerance to drought and flooding. These two cis-elements are regulated by different transcription factors that downstream of RAP2.12 results in differential accumulation of hypoxia-responsive transcripts. The evolution from one cis-element haplotype to the other is associated with the colonization of humid environments from arid habitats. This gene thus promotes both drought and flooding adaptation via an adaptive mechanism that diversifies its regulation through noncoding alleles.