Abstract
Biosynthesis of chlorophyll (Chl) involves many enzymatic reactions that share several first steps for biosynthesis of other tetrapyrroles such as heme, siroheme, and phycobilins. Chl allows photosynthetic organisms to capture light energy for photosynthesis but with simultaneous threat of photooxidative damage to cells. To prevent photodamage by Chl and its highly photoreactive intermediates, photosynthetic organisms have developed multiple levels of regulatory mechanisms to coordinate tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (TPB) with the formation of photosynthetic and photoprotective systems and to fine-tune the metabolic flow with the varying needs of Chl and other tetrapyrroles under various developmental and environmental conditions. Among a wide range of regulatory mechanisms of TPB, this review summarizes transcriptional regulation of TPB genes during plant development, with focusing on several transcription factors characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana. Key TPB genes are tightly coexpressed with other photosynthesis-associated nuclear genes and are induced by light, oscillate in a diurnal and circadian manner, are coordinated with developmental and nutritional status, and are strongly downregulated in response to arrested chloroplast biogenesis. LONG HYPOCOTYL 5 and PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORs, which are positive and negative transcription factors with a wide range of light signaling, respectively, target many TPB genes for light and circadian regulation. GOLDEN2-LIKE transcription factors directly regulate key TPB genes to fine-tune the formation of the photosynthetic apparatus with chloroplast functionality. Some transcription factors such as FAR-RED ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL3, REVEILLE1, and scarecrow-like transcription factors may directly regulate some specific TPB genes, whereas other factors such as GATA transcription factors are likely to regulate TPB genes in an indirect manner. Comprehensive transcriptional analyses of TPB genes and detailed characterization of key transcriptional regulators help us obtain a whole picture of transcriptional control of TPB in response to environmental and endogenous cues.
Introduction
The development of photosynthetic machinery in chloroplasts is strictly regulated in response to various developmental and environmental cues to achieve efficient photosynthesis while avoiding photodamage (). Particularly, the entire process of chlorophyll (Chl) biosynthesis should be strictly organized during chloroplast biogenesis because most Chl intermediates readily generate singlet oxygen and toxic radicals under light and consequently damage cells (Triantaphylidès and Havaux, 2009). In addition, Chl biosynthesis shares the common biosynthetic pathway with other tetrapyrroles such as heme, siroheme, and phycobilins (Figure 1), and metabolic flux to other tetrapyrroles affects Chl biosynthesis in plant cells. To produce Chl efficiently and safely on demand, plants utilize multiple levels of regulation including fine-tuning of enzymatic activities by cofactors, redox, and feedback systems, control of protein stability and suborganelle localization, and modulation of protein complex formation with regulatory proteins (; ). In addition, transcriptional regulation is a central system used to coordinate each step of tetrapyrrole biosynthesis (TPB) with the formation and maintenance of the photosynthetic machinery in response to developmental and environmental status. This review focuses on recent findings in the transcriptional regulation of TPB in Arabidopsis thaliana.
FIGURE 1
Overview of Chl Biosynthesis in Plants
In plants, all reactions of TPB take place in plastids. Figure 2 shows the TPB pathway with the involved genes. For details, readers are referred to comprehensive reviews of TPB pathways (von Wettstein et al., 1997; ; ; Tanaka et al., 2011; ; ). Chl shares the common biosynthetic pathway with other tetrapyrroles in the first multiple steps. Plants, algae and many bacteria synthesize 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), the universal precursor for all tetrapyrroles, from Glu via three enzymatic steps called the C5 pathway (Oborník and Green, 2005). Glu-tRNAGlu formed from Glu and tRNAGlu within plastids is reduced to Glu 1-semialdehyde (GSA) by Glu-tRNA reductase (GluTR). This reaction is the first committed and rate-limiting step of TPB (Papenbrock and Grimm, 2001). GSA is converted to ALA by GSA aminotransferase (GSAT), which catalyzes the intramolecular transfer of an amino group. Then two molecules of ALA are condensed asymmetrically to form the monopyrrole porphobilinogen (PBG), which is catalyzed by ALA dehydratase (ALAD; also known as PBG synthase). Four PBG molecules are then sequentially polymerized by PBG deaminase to result in the unstable linear tetrapyrrole hydroxymethylbilane (HMB). HMB is converted into the first macrocyclic tetrapyrrole, uroporphyrinogen (Urogen) III, by Urogen III synthase (UROS), then metabolized to coproporphyrinogen (Coprogen) III by Urogen III decarboxylase (UROD). A portion of Urogen III is also used for the synthesis of siroheme, the cofactor of nitrite and sulfite reductases involved in nitrogen and sulfur assimilation, respectively (Tanaka et al., 2011). Coprogen III is oxidized by Coprogen III oxidase (CPO) to form protoporphyrinogen (Protogen) IX, which is further oxidized by Protogen IX oxidase (PPO) to result in protoporphyrin (Proto) IX, the precursor for the synthesis of Chl and heme.
FIGURE 2
After the formation of Proto IX, the TPB pathway branches into two distinct pathways, namely the Mg- and Fe-branch for Chl and heme biosynthesis, respectively. In the Fe-branch, an Fe2+ ion is inserted into the Proto IX macrocycle by ferrochelatase to form protoheme (heme b), some of which is further converted into other hemes such as heme a and heme c or phytochromobilin, a linear tetrapyrrole functioning as a chromophore of phytochromes (Figure 1). In the Mg-branch, an Mg2+ ion is inserted into the Proto IX macrocycle in an ATP-dependent manner to form Mg-Proto IX. This reaction is catalyzed by Mg-chelatase consisting of the three subunits CHLD, CHIH, and CHLI in plants. GUN4, the regulatory protein of Mg-chelatase, assists this step by stabilizing the Mg-chelatase complex in membranes and mediating substrate and/or product channeling (
Genes Involved in TPB and Their Expression Profiles in Arabidopsis
Characterization of the photosynthetic gene cluster in Rhodobacter species of purple bacteria brought the first detailed understanding of genes involved in TPB (TPB genes) (Young et al., 1989; Suzuki et al., 1997). In plants, pioneering biochemical and genetic works in barley and tobacco substantially contributed to reveal TPB pathways and the involved genes (von Wettstein et al., 1997;
Arabidopsis has two paralogous genes for GluTR isoforms, namely HEMA1 and HEMA2, and two genes for ferrochelatase isoforms, FC1 and FC2. Another GluTR paralog, HEMA3, is probably a pseudogene (Matsumoto et al., 2004). HEMA1 and FC2 are actively transcribed in green tissues (
To monitor the expression of TPB genes during seedling development in Arabidopsis, Matsumoto et al. (2004) conducted a small-scale transcriptome analysis covering most TPB genes. The authors found that TPB genes can be classified into four clusters (c1–c4) based on their expression profiles in response to light and the circadian clock. The c1 cluster contains HEMA1, CHLH, CHL27, and CAO, whose expression is repressed in dark-grown seedlings but rapidly induced by light together with LHCB6, which encodes a subunit of light-harvesting complex II. During photoperiodic seedling growth, these genes show well-synchronized oscillation together with LHCB6 under diurnal and circadian rhythms. Similarly, in tobacco, a rhythmic coexpression of HEMA1 and CHLH with an LHC gene is linked with diurnal and circadian control of tetrapyrrole metabolism (Papenbrock et al., 1999). Genes of the cl cluster form a tight coexpression network with each other and additional TPB genes, GUN4 and CHLP (Figure 3A) (Masuda and Fujita, 2008) in the ATTED-II coexpression database (
FIGURE 3

Coexpression networks of Arabidopsis genes involved in TPB. Coexpression networks of (A) TPB genes in cl (red), c2 (green), c3 (gray), and c4 (blue) clusters, (B) FLUORESCENT IN BLUE LIGHT (FLU, At3g14110), and (C) GluTR-binding protein (GBP, At3g21200) formed with photosynthesis-associated nuclear genes (PhANGs, orange), plastid ribosome-related genes (purple) and other nuclear genes (white). The coexpression networks were drawn by using the NetworkDrawer of the ATTED-II database v8.0 (
The c2 cluster is the largest cluster and widely includes genes for reactions from the earlier to later steps of TPB (Figure 2). The expression of c2 genes is induced by light and oscillated with diurnal rhythm but with smaller amplitude than that of c1 genes. Unlike c1 genes, c2 genes are not under circadian control, so light may be the primary determinant for the c2 gene cluster during a photoperiodic cycle (Matsumoto et al., 2004). The c2 genes form a coexpression network within the cluster, which connects in part with the network of the c1 cluster (Figure 3A) (Masuda and Fujita, 2008). Thus, although c2 genes may not be the main regulators of TPB, their expression is likely coordinated with the c1 genes to avoid excess accumulation of photoreactive tetrapyrrole intermediates. The LCAA gene in Arabidopsis, which encodes a membrane subunit of Mg-Proto ME cyclase, is involved in a coexpression network with c2 genes (Figure 3A). Thus, this gene may belong to the c2 cluster, whereas another membrane subunit of Mg-Proto ME cyclase, CHL27, belongs to the c1 cluster.
Meanwhile, genes in the c3 cluster, many involved in heme metabolism, are not responsive to light and circadian rhythms, which suggests a minor contribution of these genes to the transcriptional regulation of TPB in such conditions (Matsumoto et al., 2004). As an exception, CHLM in the c3 cluster connects with the c1 genes in the coexpression network (Figure 3A), so CHLM may be coregulated with cl genes under some conditions.
The c4 cluster comprises only two genes, PORA and PORB, whose transcripts accumulate in dark-grown seedlings and rapidly decrease with illumination. This profile is consistent with the substantial accumulation of the Pchlide–LPOR complex within etioplasts in dark-grown cotyledons and rapid breakdown of the complex after illumination (
In addition to the enzymes involved in TPB, posttranslational regulatory proteins also strongly affect TPB pathways. FLUORESCENT IN BLUE LIGHT (FLU), which is a negative regulator of ALA synthesis, interacts with HEMA1-encoded GluTR1 to prevent excess accumulation of Chl precursors particularly Pchlide (Meskauskiene et al., 2001; Meskauskiene and Klaus, 2002;
A membrane bound GluTR-binding protein (GBP) is also involved in posttranslational regulation of GluTR activity. GBP interacts with GluTRs and recruits them to the thylakoid membrane (
Transcriptional Factors Involved in TPB
LONG HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5)
Because most TPB genes are light-inducible, the light signaling pathway plays a central role in the transcriptional regulation of Chl biosynthesis. HY5 is one of the pivotal transcription factors regulating many light-associated events including photomorphogenesis and chloroplast development downstream of photoreceptors (
A genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation-chip (ChIP-chip) analysis suggests that many TPB genes are direct targets of HY5 together with various PhANGs (Figure 2; Supplementary Table S1) (
HY5 specifically binds to the promoters of light-responsive genes through the G-box cis-element (CACGTG) (
PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORs (PIFs)
Most TPB genes are negatively regulated in the dark to avoid excess accumulation of Chl intermediates that cause photooxidation upon illumination. PIFs, the basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors involved in broad cellular processes as a signaling hub integrating light, hormone, and other multiple developmental signals (Leivar and Quail, 2011), play an essential role in repressing Chl biosynthesis in the dark. PIFs (PIF1, PIF3, PIF4, and PIF5) accumulate in the nucleus in the dark and repress photomorphogenic responses including Chl biosynthesis. Particularly, PIF1 acts as a cofactor of COP1 to synergistically degrade HY5 in the dark (Zhu et al., 2015). However, upon illumination, PIFs are phosphorylated and degraded via the ubiquitin–proteasome system in a phytochrome-dependent manner (Leivar and Quail, 2011).
Among six well-characterized PIF proteins, PIF1, PIF3, PIF4, and PIF5 mainly function redundantly to downregulate TPB genes during seedling growth in the dark. Loss of function of PIF1 and PIF3 caused increased expression of key TPB genes such as HEMA1, CHLH, and GUN4 and excessive accumulation of Pchlide in the dark, which led to photobleaching of etiolated seedlings upon illumination (
PIF3 binds to G-box regions of CHLH and other PhANGs (Liu et al., 2013). The interaction of PIF1 with G-box regions of CHLH, PORC and CAO was also reported (
In addition,
GOLDEN2-LIKE (GLK) Transcription Factors
The GLK gene family is involved in the transcriptional regulation of chloroplast biogenesis in diverse groups of land plants. Loss of function of GLKs perturbed chloroplast biogenesis in leaves (
Many plant species have GLK genes in pairs (GLK1 and GLK2) (Wang et al., 2013). In Arabidopsis, GLK1 and GLK2 are functionally equivalent, and only the double knockout mutant (glk1 glk2) showed perturbed chloroplast development with reduced expression of PhANGs in leaves (
Promoter analysis of GLK-targeted genes revealed a putative GLK-recognition cis-element (CCAATC) (Waters et al., 2009). The GLK-recognition element is significantly co-enriched with G-box in the promoter regions of key TPB genes and coexpressed PhANGs (
Other Transcription Factors
GATA factors are transcriptional regulators that recognize a G-A-T-A core sequence of gene promoter regions. Of approximately 30 members of the GATA factor family, class B GATA factors (B-GATAs) are implicated in the regulation of Chl metabolism in addition to various developmental processes related to light and several hormonal responses (
The transposase-derived transcription factors FAR-RED ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL3 (FHY3) and FAR-RED IMPAIREDRESPONSE1 (FAR1) are positive regulators of PHYA signaling and function in diverse developmental processes including Chl biosynthesis (Wang and Wang, 2015). Mutant analysis in Arabidopsis demonstrates that upregulation of HEMA1 in response to red and far-red light stimuli requires FHY3 (McCormac and Terry, 2002). FHY3 is also important for the expression of GUN4 and CHLH under far-red light (Stephenson and Terry, 2008). However, HEMA1 but not GUN4 and CHLH was identified as a putative direct target of FHY3 by ChIP-sequence analysis (Ouyang et al., 2011), which suggests that regulatory pathways by FHY3 are different between HEMA1 and other genes (GUN4 and CHLH). In addition, FHY3 and FAR1 induce the expression of ALAD1/HEMB1 encoding an ALAD by binding to its promoter region through the FHY3/FAR1 binding site (CACGCGC) (Tang et al., 2012). The activity of FHY3 in the dark is partially repressed by PIF1 that physically interacts with the DNA binding domain of FHY3. FHY3 and FAR1 also physically interact with HY5 through their respective DNA binding domains (Li et al., 2010). The direct interaction between FHY3/FAR1 and HY5 affects PHYA signaling and the circadian clock (Wang and Wang, 2015), but its role in TPB gene regulation has not yet been elucidated.
The microRNAs miR171s (miR171a to c) and their targets scarecrow-like (SCL) transcription factors SCL6, SCL22 and SCL27 play an important role in transcriptional regulation of TPB genes, particularly those of the Chl pathway (Wang et al., 2010; Ma et al., 2014). Overexpression of miR171c enhanced degradation of the target SCL transcripts, which led to upregulation of PORs and CAO with increased Chl accumulation in leaves. A similar result was observed in the triple mutant of SCL6, SCL22, and SCL27. By contrast, overexpression of miR171-resistant SCL27 strongly decreased the expression of these TPB genes and Chl content in leaves. The data suggest that the balance between miR171s and their target SCLs strongly affect the expression of TPB genes involved in the Chl pathway in leaves. In vivo and in vitro analysis revealed that SCL27 can bind to the promoter of PORC through GT cis-element repeats and inhibit its expression (Ma et al., 2014). However, DELLA proteins, negative regulators of gibberellin signaling, physically interact with SCL27 and inhibit its DNA binding to the PORC promoter, which suggests an involvement of gibberellin signaling in TPB gene regulation via the DELLA–SCL27 interaction.
Xu et al. (2015) reported that a transcription factor REVEILLE1 (RVE1) binds to the promoter of PORA through a cis-element termed evening element (AAAATATCT) and upregulates PORA expression in the dark. Overexpression and loss of function of RVE1 increased and decreased the PORA expression in the dark, respectively. Moreover, RVE1 overexpression increased the greening rate of dark-grown seedlings with reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cell death, so RVE1 may be a crucial mediator of Chl biosynthesis and chloroplast development (Xu et al., 2015).
Key TPB genes of the c1 cluster are under transcriptional control by the circadian clock machinery (Matsumoto et al., 2004), in which TIMING OF CAB EXPRESSION1 (TOC1) plays a pivotal role as one of the core components. TOC1 functions as a transcriptional repressor by directly binding to the promoter of its target genes (
Regulation of TPB Genes during Photomorphogenesis
Angiosperms germinated in darkness undergo a dark-adapted developmental program termed skotomorphogenesis, which is characterized by a prolonged hypocotyl and etiolated cotyledons containing dark-specific plastid etioplasts. In etioplasts, a substantial amount of LPOR is accumulated along with Pchlide a and NADPH to form prolamellar bodies (Sundqvist and Dahlin, 1997). In Arabidopsis seedlings, PORA and PORB are actively expressed during skotomorphogenesis (
FIGURE 4

A model for regulating TPB genes (A) in the dark and (B) under light. The pathway for Chl biosynthesis is shown with important intermediates and enzymatic steps indicated by arrowheads. Key genes for the pathway shown in boxes are connected to each step that they involved. Arrows and bars represent positive and negative regulation, respectively. Dotted lines indicate indirect effects. Black and light blue colors represent activated and inactivated status, respectively. CK, cytokinin; CRY, cryptochrome; GA, gibberellic acid; PHY; phytochrome; SL, strigolactone.
With the exception of PORs actively transcribed in the dark, most TPB genes are repressed in dark-grown seedlings to prevent photodamage upon illumination (Matsumoto et al., 2004). As described earlier, PIFs play a central role in the negative regulation of TPB genes (Figure 4). Gibberellins accumulated in the dark contribute to the activation of PIFs by degrading DELLA proteins and releasing PIFs from inhibition by DELLAs (
Upon illumination, Pchlide accumulated in the dark is immediately converted to Chlide by LPORs and then to Chl by Chl synthase. During this process, the expression of PORA and PORB is rapidly decreased in response to light, with possible involvement of degradation of EIN3 via inactivation of COP1 and ethylene signaling (Zhong et al., 2009). At the same time, de novo Chl biosynthesis is activated to develop functional chloroplasts in cotyledons. Both the phytochrome and cryptochrome photoreceptor families play a crucial role in upregulating key TPB genes such as HEMA1, CHLH, GUN4, and CAO (McCormac and Terry, 2002; Tepperman et al., 2006; Stephenson and Terry, 2008). Under light, phytochromes induce phosphorylation, ubiquitination, and subsequent degradation of PIFs (Leivar and Quail, 2011), which results in derepression of TPB genes. DELLAs also contribute to derepression of TPB genes by inhibiting PIF activities (
Circadian Regulation of TPB Genes
After establishing photoautotrophic growth with developed chloroplasts, plants maintain homeostatic Chl biosynthesis to support continued growth with high photosynthetic activity. Chl biosynthesis is coordinated with development of photosynthetic machinery by light and the endogenous clock, with concerted circadian regulation of key TPB genes with Chl-binding apoproteins during the day–night cycle playing a crucial role (Papenbrock et al., 1999; Matsumoto et al., 2004; Stephenson et al., 2009).
As described earlier, the core evening phase factor TOC1 decreases CHLH transcripts at night by directly binding to the CHLH promoter (
Together with TOC1, two morning-phased transcription factors, CIRCADIAN CLOCK-ASSOCIATED1 (CCA1) and LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY), form a core transcriptional feedback loop to maintain circadian oscillation. CCA1 and LHY in Arabidopsis colocalize in the nucleus via physical interaction and function synergistically in regulating circadian oscillation (Lu et al., 2009). CCA1 and LHY bind to the same region (CCA1-binding site) of the promoter of LHCB1.3 to activate it in response to light (Wang et al., 1997; Lu et al., 2009). The LHCB1.3 promoter has a G-box element to bind HY5, in close proximity to the CCA1 binding site. CCA1 affects the binding of HY5 to LHCB1.1 and LHCB1.3 promoters via physical interaction. HY5 is required for regulating the circadian oscillation of the LHCB1.1 transcripts (
In contrast to HY5, PIFs function to downregulate key TPB genes during circadian oscillation. Stephenson et al. (2009) showed that the periodic expression of HEMA1, CHLH and GUN4 observed during seedling growth in darkness was strongly disordered in pif1 and pif3 mutants with an increasing trend. The pif1 and pif3 mutations did not affect the circadian expression of TOC1, CCA1 and LHY in dark-grown seedlings, so PIF1 and PIF3 function in the output from the circadian clock under such conditions (Stephenson et al., 2009). Moreover, the expression of CHLH and PORC was increased throughout circadian oscillation in the pifq mutant (Toledo-Ortiz et al., 2014). Thus, PIFs would function in circadian signaling to downregulate Chl biosynthesis with the development of photosynthetic machinery at night. TOC1 can interact with PIFs and represses their transcriptional activation activity (Soy et al., 2016). However, the effect of TOC1 on the function of PIFs as a transcriptional repressor of PhANGs needs to be addressed.
The expression of GLK2 is regulated in a circadian-dependent manner, as is the expression of key TPB genes (
Coordinated Regulation of TPB Genes with Chloroplast Functionality
Plants need to coordinate Chl biosynthesis with the formation of the photosynthetic machinery to meet the variable demands for Chl during development and to prevent photooxidative damage by free Chl and its intermediates. Light induction of most TPB genes during chloroplast biogenesis is important to provide Chl for the newly synthesized photosynthetic apparatus. By contrast, the expression of most TPB genes is gradually decreased during plant maturation (Matsumoto et al., 2004) and strongly repressed during leaf senescence (Figure 5) (Lin and Wu, 2004). Such transcriptional regulation of Chl biosynthesis in coordination with chloroplast development is required to avoid photooxidative damage from free Chl and tetrapyrrole intermediates. In fact, deregulation of the TPB gene expression in pif mutants resulted in photobleaching of dark-grown seedlings with illumination (
FIGURE 5

Expression of TPB genes during leaf senescence. Gene expression data in Arabidopsis were obtained from the AtGenExpress Visualization Tool (http://jsp.weigelworld.org/expviz/expviz.jsp) in the public transcriptome database. The expression of each gene in senesced leaves of 35-day-old plants was normalized to that in the sixth true leaves of 17-day-old seedlings (dotted line).
The expression of key TPB genes is strongly associated with the biogenesis of the thylakoid membrane, where Chl forms complexes with photosynthetic proteins and other cofactors. The coordinated expression of TPB genes and other PhANGs with thylakoid membrane biogenesis was revealed in mutants defective in thylakoid lipid biosynthesis (
Land plants are at constant risk of photooxidative damage in chloroplasts by fluctuating strong light and other biotic and abiotic stresses. Sudden exposure to high light and low temperature stresses, which cause over-reduction of the photosynthetic electron transport chain, quickly downregulates many TPB genes as well as PhANGs, presumably to minimize the potential of chloroplasts to generate ROS (
When the chloroplast function is severely impaired, the expression of PhANGs, including most TPB genes, is shut off via the plastid-to-nucleus retrograde signaling. Several Arabidopsis mutants, with disrupted retrograde plastid signaling, have been identified and are named genomes-uncoupled (gun) mutants (Susek et al., 1993). In gun mutants, chloroplast dysfunction by herbicide or antibiotic treatments could not strongly decrease the expression of key TPB genes and other PhANGs (Strand et al., 2003; Moulin et al., 2008), which suggests that key TPB genes are under strict control of plastid signaling similar to other PhANGs. A plastidic pentatricopeptide repeat protein, GUN1, plays a central role in plastid signaling by integrating multiple plastid signals to shut off the expression of PhANGs in response to chloroplast dysfunction (
Although HY5 is one of the central transcriptional activators of light-responsive genes, including many PhANGs, during photomorphogenesis as described earlier, Ruckle et al. (2007) showed that this factor represses its target genes via cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) when chloroplasts are dysfunctional. In the authors’ model, plastid signals convert HY5 from a positive to a negative regulator in a GUN1-independent manner and downregulate HY5-targeted genes. In fact, loss-of-function mutations in CRY1 or HY5 caused strong photodamage under high light conditions because of deregulation of PhANGs, and the additional gun1 mutation to these mutants further enhanced the light-dependent growth defect (Ruckle et al., 2007). The data suggest that the dual transcriptional regulation of PhANGs by CRY1–HY5-mediated light signaling and GUN1 signaling is crucial for controlling the development of photosynthetic machinery according to light conditions and chloroplast functionality. We should note that LHCB genes are particularly subject to negative regulation by light signaling after lincomycin-induced plastid dysfunction and many other PhANGs including TPB genes showed only reduced light response with lincomycin treatment (Ruckle et al., 2012). Meanwhile,
Regulation of TPB Genes in Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses
In addition to producing Chl, the TPB pathway is indispensable for providing heme as a protein cofactor or a regulatory molecule for various biological processes. Arabidopsis HEMA1 and FC2 play major roles in photosynthesis by being abundantly expressed in green tissues as described earlier, the expression of their counterparts HEMA2 and FC1 is low in these tissues but is strongly upregulated in response to ROS-generating treatments such as wounding, ozone, and herbicides (Nagai et al., 2007). Of note, the expression of HEMA2 and FC1 is increased in the flu mutant exposed to light after dark incubation (op den Camp et al., 2003). The flu mutant lacks the ability to regulate GluTR1 activity and therefore accumulates excess Pchlide in the dark (Meskauskiene et al., 2001). With light exposure, Pchlide accumulated in the mutant generates singlet oxygen, which subsequently induces a programmed cell death response mediated by plastid-localized EXECUTER proteins (Wagner et al., 2004;
Perspectives
Large-scale transcriptome analysis, targeted gene expression analysis and characterization of transcription regulators involved in TPB pathways have demonstrated a deep involvement of transcriptional regulation in TPB control during various processes of plant growth. The expression of key TPB genes is tightly coordinated with each other and with many PhANGs, with HY5 and GLKs possibly playing a central regulatory role. However, not all key TPB genes and coexpressed PhANGs are direct targets of HY5 and/or GLKs. Moreover, the classification of TPB genes into the four clusters based on light and circadian regulation is not strictly associated with the assignment of specific transcription factors to genes of each single cluster. The data suggest a complex regulation of these coexpressed genes by several transcription factors besides HY5 and GLKs under various conditions other than light and the circadian clock. Comprehensive promoter analysis of TPB genes and coexpressed PhANGs would provide further insight into the mechanism of coordinated regulation of these genes. Moreover, new molecular techniques have advanced our understanding of the involvement of chromatin remodeling and gene loci repositioning in the nucleus in transcriptional control. Thus, we anticipate an unraveling of the local regulation of TPB gene loci by specific transcription factors and also the global control of nuclear dynamics in response to endogenous and environmental stimuli. In addition, relationships between transcriptional regulation and other potent regulatory mechanisms such as post-translational control await elucidation.
As described here, most of the evidence for the TPB gene regulation in higher plants has come from Arabidopsis studies. However, besides common mechanisms conserved widely among plants, different types of plants could possess different regulatory systems specific to their life styles for regulating TPB genes. An increasing amount of large-scale transcriptome data for various types of plants will help reveal a picture of transcriptional regulation of TPB that is common and specific to plant species. Future molecular and biochemical studies in diverse plant species will also advance our understanding about the regulatory mechanisms of TPB genes in response to diverse developmental and environmental conditions.
Statements
Author contributions
KK conceived the review, collected data, and wrote the manuscript. TM helped to write the manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP24570042, JP16K07393, and JP26711016.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Supplementary material
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpls.2016.01811/full#supplementary-material
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Summary
Keywords
Arabidopsis thaliana, chlorophyll, chloroplast, gene expression, heme, photosynthesis, porphyrin, tetrapyrrole
Citation
Kobayashi K and Masuda T (2016) Transcriptional Regulation of Tetrapyrrole Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Front. Plant Sci. 7:1811. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01811
Received
21 June 2016
Accepted
16 November 2016
Published
01 December 2016
Volume
7 - 2016
Edited by
Dario Leister, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany
Reviewed by
Bernhard Grimm, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany; Steffen Reinbothe, Université Grenoble Alpes, France
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© 2016 Kobayashi and Masuda.
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*Correspondence: Koichi Kobayashi, kkobayashi@bio.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp
This article was submitted to Plant Physiology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Plant Science
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