Conservation and divergence within the Arabidopsis TPL/TPR corepressor family

Abstract

Abstract The TOPLESS (TPL) and TOPLESS-RELATED (TPR1–TPR4) corepressors, collectively the Arabidopsis TPX family, are recruited by client proteins to regulate nearly every major plant regulatory program. Here, we dissect the conservation and divergence between paralogs using a combination of higher-order genetics, transcriptomics, and a synthetic repression assay. TPL, TPR1, and TPR4 were found to act as the primary repressors for many pathways, while TPR2 and TPR3 played a lesser or sometimes opposite regulatory role. Natural variation in the EAR-binding pocket subdivided the family into three subtypes: TPL/TPR1, TPR2/TPR3 and TPR4, and this variation at least partially explained observed differences between mutant phenotypes. In addition, cell-type-specific expression of EAR-containing effectors were used to tune root architecture, providing a possible route to engineering other TPX-regulated pathways. These results suggest a model where the TPX family balances robustness under stable conditions with the need for flexibility during cell fate transitions or stress responses.