Arabidopsis NF-YCs Mediate the Light-Controlled Hypocotyl Elongation via Modulating Histone Acetylation

Loss of function in four specific proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana leads to significantly elongated hypocotyls under light conditions.

• Four Nuclear Factor-YC homologs (NF-YC1, NF-YC3, NF-YC4, NF-YC9) are identified as repressors of light-controlled hypocotyl elongation.
• Mutant seedlings lacking NF-YCs exhibit elongated hypocotyls and fewer opened cotyledons when grown in light.
• NF-YCs interact with histone deacetylase HDA15 and target the promoters of genes related to hypocotyl elongation.
• In the light, NF-YCs repress gene expression by modulating histone H4 acetylation levels; this repression is lifted in the dark.
• The transcriptional repression by NF-YCs partially relies on the deacetylation activity of HDA15, which influences hypocotyl length.

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