Prohibitin 3 gives birth to a new lateral root primordium

Plant lateral roots (LRs) initiate when a small group of pericycle cells are primed to undergo cell division to form LR primordia (LRPs). This process involves a complex gene regulatory network. In Arabidopsis, an auxin-dependent AUX/IAA14/28-ARF7/19-GATA23/LBD16 signaling cascade is known to control the LR initiation. However, it is largely unknown how auxin signaling is regulated. In this issue, Li et al. (2022) identified prohibitin 3 (PHB3) as a regulator of LR initiation in Arabidopsis. PHB3 affects the accumulation of endogenous nitric oxide (NO), which leads to the degradation of IAA14 and IAA28, thereby inducing the expression of GATA23 and LBD16 to activate LR initiation.

Automated summary

This study investigates the mechanism of lateral root formation in plants and identifies prohibitin 3 as a regulator of lateral root initiation. Prohibitin 3 affects the accumulation of endogenous nitric oxide and degradation of IAA proteins, leading to the activation of lateral root initiation.