SWP1 negatively regulates lateral root initiation and elongation in Arabidopsis.

The main root and continuously emerging lateral roots constitute the root architecture of an adult plant during its postembryonic development. Epigenetic modifications like methylation or deacetylation of histones have been suggested to regulate root development. SWP1/LDL1, a component of plant specific corepressor complex, has been implicated in the induction of flowers and root through histone modifications in Arabidopsis. However, molecular role of SWP1 in regulating the lateral root development remained unexplored. Here we show that SWP1 regulates lateral root initiation and elongation in Arabidopsis. Mutation in SWP1 increases both the density and length of lateral roots. SWP1 negatively regulates lateral root initiation through direct/indirect transcriptional repression of lateral root promoting factors, such as AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORS (ARFs) and GATA23.