Transcriptome profiling of erf4 seeds in Arabidopsis thaliana
Seeds establish dormancy for survival under severe conditions and break it for renascence under suitable ones. Here We identify a fate switch constituted by MKK3-MPK7 and ERF4 responsible for the transition of seeds state from dormancy to germination. We show that the MKK3-MPK7 module is activated by dormancy-breaking factors, affects and relies on the expression of some EXPAs to control seed dormancy. Furthermore, we identify a direct downstream substrate of this module, ERF4, which can suppress the expression of these EXPAs by directly binding to the GCC box in their exon region. The activated MKK3-MPK7 module phosphorylates ERF4 and leads to its rapid degradation, thereby releasing its inhibitory effect on the expression of these EXPAs. Our work identifies a signaling chain integrated by protein phosphorylation, degradation, and gene transcription, dependent on which the germination promoters within the embryonic nucleus are sensing and activated by the germination signals from the ambient conditions. Overall design: Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for dry and imbibed seeds of wildtype Col-0 and mutant erf4-1.