Age-dependent seasonal growth cessation in <i>Populus</i>.

Abstract

In temperate and boreal regions, perennial plants adapt their annual growth cycle to the change of seasons. In natural forests, juvenile seedlings usually display longer growth seasons compared to adult trees to ensure their establishment and survival under canopy shade. However, how trees adjust their annual growth according to their age is not known. In this study, we show that age-dependent seasonal growth cessation is genetically controlled and found that the <i>miR156-SPL3/5</i> module, a key regulon of vegetative phase change (VPC), also triggers age-dependent growth cessation in <i>Populus</i> trees. We show that <i>miR156</i> promotes shoot elongation during vegetative growth, and its targets <i>SPL3/5s</i> function in the same pathway but as repressors. We find that the <i>miR156-SPL3/5s</i> regulon controls growth cessation in both leaves and shoot apices and through multiple pathways, but with a different mechanism compared to how the <i>miR156-SPL</i> regulon controls VPC in annual plants. Taken together, our results reveal an age-dependent genetic network in mediating seasonal growth cessation, a key phenological process in the climate adaptation of perennial trees.