Post-transcriptional regulation of photosynthetic genes is a key driver of C4 leaf ontogeny.

C photosynthesis allows highly efficient carbon fixation that originates from tightly regulated anatomical and biochemical modifications of leaf architecture. Recent studies showed that leaf transcriptome modifications during leaf ontogeny of closely related C (Tarenaya hassleriana) and C (Gynandropsis gynandra) species within the Cleomaceae family existed but they did not identify any dedicated transcriptional networks or factors specifically driving C leaf ontogeny. RNAseq analysis provides a steady-state quantification of whole-cell mRNAs but does not allow any discrimination between transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes that may occur simultaneously during leaf ontogeny.