Abstract
Exploring approaches to regulate meristem is of special importance and broad interest. In this study, we found that the flavonoid scutellarin, which has a 6-hydroxyl and a 7-glucoside, increased root length through the transcription factor NUTCRACKER (NUC). This root lengthening disappeared in NUC-knockout and reappeared in NUC-rescue plants. Scutellarin induced NUC expression and promoted the division of cortex/endodermal initials. In contrast, naringenin, which has same chemical backbone but without 6-hydroxyl and with 7-hydroxyl group, showed the opposite or no effects. Our results demonstrate that scutellarin promotes root length through NUC-mediated regulatory pathways and reveal that flavonoids with and without the 6-hydroxyl and 7-glucoside have positive and negative effects on meristem size, respectively.