A novel SCARECROW-LIKE3 transcription factor in regulates the development of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Unlabelled: The symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi improves plants' nutrient uptake. During this process, transcription factors have been highlighted to play crucial roles. Members of the GRAS transcription factor gene family have been reported involved in AM symbiosis, but little is known about SCARECROW-LIKE3 (SCL3) genes belonging to this family in . In this study, 67 genes were identified from the genome, seven of which were clustered in the SCL3 group. Three of the seven genes expression levels were upregulated by AM fungal inoculation, and our biochemical results showed that the expression of was specifically induced by AM colonization. Functional loss of in mutant plants exhibited a significantly reduced mycorrhizal colonization rate and arbuscular size. Transcriptome analysis showed a deficiency of led to the dysregulation of the gibberellic acid signal pathway associated with AM symbiosis. Together, this study provides important insights for understanding the important potential function of genes in regulating AM symbiotic development.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-022-01161-z.