The TPR2 corepressor forms condensates with repressors to fine-tune growth and development in rice
Abstract
Transcriptional repression is a central mechanism regulating plant growth and development, yet how plant-specific corepressors achieve robust gene silencing remains unclear. Here, we identify the rice corepressor TPR2 (TOPLESS-RELATED 2) as a phaseseparating protein that forms nuclear condensates through the cooperative action of an intrinsically disordered region (IDR1) and a plant-specific N-terminal tetramerization domain. Structure-guided mutagenesis disrupting tetramerization or deleting IDR1 markedly impaired condensate formation in vivo and in vitro. Complementation assays showed that only full-length TPR2, capable of robust condensate formation, rescued the growth defects of the tpr2 mutant, whereas phase separation-deficient variants failed to do so. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that TPR2 co-condenses with repressors such as D53 and IAA3 to facilitate histone deacetylation and establish repressive chromatin states in a phase separation-dependent manner, thereby fine-tuning key developmental genes. Together, these findings define a condensate-based mechanism for transcriptional repression in plants, linking corepressor phase separation to chromatin modification, gene silencing and developmental control.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026tpr2,
title = {{The TPR2 corepressor forms condensates with repressors to fine-tune growth and development in rice}},
author = {Yu Zhang and Bingchen Li and Yu Chen and Jiawei Li and Yao Wang and Tiantian Ye and Ying Ye and Zhiwei Liu and Zhiyue Feng and Stephanie Hutin and Shaoli Zhou and Jianping Guo and Ruihui Zhang and Zhu Liu and Faming Dong and Haiyan Xiong and Chloe Zubieta and Lizhong Xiong and Xuelei Lai},
journal = {The EMBO Journal},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s44318-026-00852-7},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05760455v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The TPR2 corepressor forms condensates with repressors to fine-tune growth and development in rice
AU - Yu Zhang
AU - Bingchen Li
AU - Yu Chen
AU - Jiawei Li
AU - Yao Wang
AU - Tiantian Ye
AU - Ying Ye
AU - Zhiwei Liu
AU - Zhiyue Feng
AU - Stephanie Hutin
AU - Shaoli Zhou
AU - Jianping Guo
AU - Ruihui Zhang
AU - Zhu Liu
AU - Faming Dong
AU - Haiyan Xiong
AU - Chloe Zubieta
AU - Lizhong Xiong
AU - Xuelei Lai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/06
JO - The EMBO Journal
DO - 10.1038/s44318-026-00852-7
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05760455v1
AB - Transcriptional repression is a central mechanism regulating plant growth and development, yet how plant-specific corepressors achieve robust gene silencing remains unclear. Here, we identify the rice corepressor TPR2 (TOPLESS-RELATED 2) as a phaseseparating protein that forms nuclear condensates through the cooperative action of an intrinsically disordered region (IDR1) and a plant-specific N-terminal tetramerization domain. Structure-guided mutagenesis disrupting tetramerization or deleting IDR1 markedly impaired condensate formation in vivo and in vitro. Complementation assays showed that only full-length TPR2, capable of robust condensate formation, rescued the growth defects of the tpr2 mutant, whereas phase separation-deficient variants failed to do so. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that TPR2 co-condenses with repressors such as D53 and IAA3 to facilitate histone deacetylation and establish repressive chromatin states in a phase separation-dependent manner, thereby fine-tuning key developmental genes. Together, these findings define a condensate-based mechanism for transcriptional repression in plants, linking corepressor phase separation to chromatin modification, gene silencing and developmental control.
SN - 0261-4189
SN - 1460-2075
ER -