AUTHOR=Apodiakou Anastasia , Alseekh Saleh , Hoefgen Rainer , Whitcomb Sarah J. 

TITLE=Overexpression of SLIM1 transcription factor accelerates vegetative development in Arabidopsis thaliana

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2024.1327152

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2024.1327152

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The transcription factor Sulfur Limitation 1 (SLIM1) belongs to the plant-specific Ethylene Insenstive3-Like transcription factor family and is known to coordinate gene expression in response to sulfur deficiency. However, the roles of SLIM1 in nutrient-sufficient conditions have not been characterized. Employing constitutive <italic>SLIM1</italic> overexpression (<italic>35S::SLIM1</italic>) and CRISPR/Cas9 mutant plants (<italic>slim1-cr</italic>), we identified several distinct phenotypes in nutrient-sufficient conditions in <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>. Overexpression of <italic>SLIM1</italic> results in plants with approximately twofold greater rosette area throughout vegetative development. <italic>35S::SLIM1</italic> plants also bolt earlier and exhibit earlier downregulation of photosynthesis-associated genes and earlier upregulation of senescence-associated genes than Col-0 and <italic>slim1-cr</italic> plants. This suggests that overexpression of <italic>SLIM1</italic> accelerates development in <italic>A. thaliana</italic>. Genome-wide differential gene expression analysis relative to Col-0 at three time points with <italic>slim1-cr</italic> and two <italic>35S::SLIM1</italic> lines allowed us to identify 1,731 genes regulated directly or indirectly by <italic>SLIM1 in vivo</italic>.</p>