Arabidopsis PP6 phosphatases dephosphorylate PIF proteins to repress photomorphogenesis.

Light-induced phosphorylation is necessary and essential for the degradation of phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs), the central repressors of photomorphogenesis. Although the kinases responsible for PIF phosphorylation have been extensively studied, the phosphatases underlying PIF dephosphorylation are largely unknown. Here, we real that mutation of FyPP1 and FyPP3, two catalytic subunits of PP6 phosphatases, promoted photomorphogenesis of seedlings in the dark. PP6 and PIFs functioned synergistically to repress photomorphogenesis. FyPP1 and FyPP3 directly interacted with and dephosphorylated PIF3 and PIF4. The light-induced degradation of PIF4 and the PIF transcriptional activities were dependent on PP6 activity. These data demonstrate that PP6 phosphatases repress photomorphogenesis through regulation of PIF phosphorylation, protein stability and transcriptional activity. Overall design: RNA-seq to arabidopsis thaliana seedlings of Col,f1f3 and pifq, grown in the dark and at 22°C for 4 days. Each sample has 2 biological replicates.