HY5 regulates light-responsive transcription of microRNA163 to promote primary root elongation in Arabidopsis seedlings.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in plants. Many miRNAs are responsive to environmental signals. Light is the first environmental signal perceived by plants after emergence from the soil. However, less is known about the roles and regulatory mechanism of miRNAs in response to light signal. Here, using small RNA sequencing, we determined that miR163 is significantly rapidly induced by light signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings. The light-inducible response of miR163 functions genetically downstream of LONG HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), a central positive regulator of photomorphogenesis. HY5 directly binds to the two G/C-hybrid elements in the miR163 promoter with unequal affinity; one of these elements, which is located next to the transcription start site, plays a major role in light-induced expression of miR163. Overexpression of miR163 rescued the defective primary root elongation of hy5 seedlings without affecting lateral root growth, whereas overexpressing of miR163 target PXMT1 inhibited primary root elongation. These findings provide insight into understanding the post-transcriptional regulation of root photomorphogenesis mediated by the HY5-miR163-PXMT1 network.