Many plant species respond to unfavorable high ambient temperatures by adjusting their vegetative body plan to facilitate cooling. This process is known as thermomorphogenesis and is induced by the phytohormone auxin. Here, we demonstrate that the chromatin-modifying enzyme HISTONE DEACETYLASE 9 (HDA9) mediates thermomorphogenesis but does not interfere with hypocotyl elongation during shade avoidance. HDA9 is stabilized in response to high temperature and mediates histone deacetylation at the YUCCA8 locus, a rate-limiting enzyme in auxin biosynthesis, at warm temperatures. We show that HDA9 permits net eviction of the H2A.Z histone variant from nucleosomes associated with YUCCA8, allowing binding and transcriptional activation by PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR 4, followed by auxin accumulation and thermomorphogenesis.

Institute of Molecular Cell and Systems Biology College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences University of Glasgow G12 8QQ Glasgow United Kingdom

Laboratory of Growth Regulators Institute of Experimental Botany The Czech Academy of Sciences and Faculty of Science Palacký University 78371 Olomouc Czech Republic

Laboratory of Molecular Biology Wageningen University 6708 PB Wageningen The Netherlands

Laboratory of Plant Physiology Wageningen University 6708 PB Wageningen The Netherlands

Molecular Plant Physiology Institute of Environmental Biology Utrecht University 3584 CH Utrecht The Netherlands

Molecular Plant Physiology Institute of Environmental Biology Utrecht University 3584 CH Utrecht The Netherlands;

Plant Microbe Interactions Institute of Environmental Biology Utrecht University 3584 CH Utrecht The Netherlands

School of Biological Sciences Monash University VIC 3800 Melbourne Australia

Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics Institute of Biodynamics and Biocomplexity Utrecht University 3584 CH Utrecht The Netherlands

Trisaia Research Centre Italian National Agency for New Technologies Energy and Sustainable Economic Development 75026 Rotondella Italy

Umeå Plant Science Centre Department of Forest Genetics and Plant Physiology Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences SE 901 83 Umeå Sweden

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Epigenetics and plant hormone dynamics: a functional and methodological perspective

MEDIATOR SUBUNIT17 integrates jasmonate and auxin signaling pathways to regulate thermomorphogenesis

The chemical compound 'Heatin' stimulates hypocotyl elongation and interferes with the Arabidopsis NIT1-subfamily of nitrilases