Dissection of HY5/HYH expression in Arabidopsis reveals a root-autonomous HY5-mediated photomorphogenic pathway

ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), a member of the bZIP gene family, is a positive regulator of the light signaling pathway in Arabidopsis thaliana. Whereas the hy5 mutant exhibits an elongated hypocotyl when grown in the light, the hy5 homolog (hyh) mutant does not. Although the functions of HY5 and HYH in light-mediated seedling development have been revealed, the tissue-specific expression patterns of HY5 and HYH and their interconnected regulation are largely unknown. Here, we report that HY5 regulates HYH expression in roots and contributes to root growth under different light conditions. We generated HY5 and HYH transcriptional and translational fusion reporter lines to investigate their expression patterns. HY5 was constitutively expressed in all root tissues, while HYH was predominantly expressed in root xylem cells. Root growth after a dark-to-light transition was perturbed in the hy5 and hy5hyh mutant lines, but not in the hyh mutant line, indicating that HY5 plays a major role in light-regulated root growth. Light-induced HY5/HYH expression occurred autonomously in roots. HYH expression in roots was decreased in the hy5 mutant, suggesting that HY5 regulates HYH expression. Collectively, these results indicate that an organ-specific HY5-mediated pathway controls root photomorphogenic development independently of light signaling in the shoot.