Kunrong He: The Plant Cell First Author

Kunrong He, first author of “PHOSPHATE STARVATION RESPONSE1 (PHR1) interacts with JASMONATE ZIM-DOMAIN (JAZ) and MYC2 to modulate phosphate deficiency-induced jasmonate signaling in Arabidopsis”

Current Position: Ph.D. in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (XTBG, CAS)

Education: B.Ag. in Northwest A&F University, China

Non-scientific Interests: Music, movies, travel, photography

Brief bio: I built my professional foundation related to molecular biology when I was an undergraduate student at Northwest A&F University. I joined the group of Prof. Yanru Hu at XTBG, CAS in 2018. I focus on the interactions between key environmental signals and endogenous phytohormones to regulate plant growth, development, and environmental adaptation

In this study, we revealed the molecular regulatory mechanism underlying phosphate deficiency activating the jasmonate responses. We found that PHR1, a core transcription factor in the phosphate deficiency signaling pathway, interact with the crucial JAZ protein of jasmonate signaling. Further studies showed that PHR1 directly binds to the promoters of jasmonate downstream response genes and induces their expression. In addition, PHR1 also interacts with MYC2 transcription factor and synergistically promotes each other’s binding ability and transcriptional activation function. Hwever, JAZ proteins inhibit the transcriptional function of PHR1 and MYC2 and competitively repress the interaction between PHR1 and MYC2. In conclusion, this study not only revealed the biological function of PHR1 in regulating jasmonate response, but also resolved the genetic mechanism of PHR1 integration of JAZ and MYC proteins in regulating jasmonate response under phosphate deficiency environment at the molecular level. This is of great scientific importance for a deeper understanding of the synergistic regulation of plant growth and environmental adaptation by endogenous and exogenous signals.

姓名：何坤容

目前职位：中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园，博士。

教育经历：西北农林科技大学，学士。

兴趣爱好：音乐，电影，旅游、摄影。

个人简历：我在西北农林科技大学就读本科时，初步掌握了分子生物学相关的专业理论知识。我于2018年以研究生的身份加入中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园胡彦如研究员团队，主要从事“关键环境信号与内源植物激素相互作用调控植物的生长发育和环境适应性”相关研究。

在本研究中，我们揭示了低磷环境激活茉莉酸信号的分子调控机制。我们发现低磷信号通路中的核心转录因子PHR1能与茉莉酸信号关键JAZ蛋白相互作用。进一步研究表明，PHR1能够直接与某些茉莉酸下游响应基因的启动子结合，并诱导其表达。此外，PHR1还能与MYC2转录因子相互作用，并协同促进彼此的DNA结合能力和转录激活功能；但JAZ蛋白抑制PHR1和MYC2的转录功能，且竞争性抑制PHR1和MYC2的相互作用。总之，该研究不仅发现了PHR1调控茉莉酸反应的生物学功能，还在分子水平解析了PHR1整合JAZ和MYC等蛋白在低磷环境下调控茉莉酸反应的遗传机理。这对于深入理解内外源信号协同调控植物生长和环境适应性具有重要的科学意义。