Histone deacetylases HDA6 and HDA9 coordinately regulate valve cell elongation through affecting auxin signaling in Arabidopsis.

Both Histone Deacetylases HDA6 and HDA9 belong to class I subfamily of RPD3/HDA1 HDACs. Loss-of-function mutants of HDA9 form slightly blunt siliques. However, the involvement of HDA6 in regulating silique tip growth is unclear. In this study, we show that HDA6 acts redundantly with HDA9 in regulating the elongation of valve cells in the silique tip. Although the hda6 single mutant does not exhibit a detectable silique phenotype, the silique tip of hda6 hda9 double mutant displays a more severe bulge, a morphology we termed as "nock-shaped". The valve cells of the silique tip of hda9 are longer than wild-type, and loss of HDA6 in hda9 enhances the valve cell elongation phenotype. The transcript levels of auxin-signaling-related genes are mis-regulated in hda9 and hda6 hda9 siliques, and the GFP reporter driven by the auxin response promoter DR5 is weaker in hda9 or hda6 hda9 than wild-type or hda6. Thus, our findings reveal that HDA6 and HDA9 coordinately control the elongation of silique valve cells through regulating the expression of auxin-related genes in silique tips.