Robust control of floral meristem determinacy by position-specific multifunctions of KNUCKLES
Floral organs are properly developed on the basis of timed floral meristem (FM) termination in Arabidopsis. In this process, two known regulatory pathways are involved. The WUSCHEL (WUS)-CLAVATA3 (CLV3) feedback loop is vital for the spatial establishment and maintenance of the FM, while AGAMOUS (AG...
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Published in | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 118; no. 36; pp. 1 - 11 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
National Academy of Sciences
07.09.2021
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Floral organs are properly developed on the basis of timed floral meristem (FM) termination in Arabidopsis. In this process, two known regulatory pathways are involved. The WUSCHEL (WUS)-CLAVATA3 (CLV3) feedback loop is vital for the spatial establishment and maintenance of the FM, while AGAMOUS (AG)-WUS transcriptional cascades temporally repress FM. At stage 6 of flower development, a C2H2-type zinc finger repressor that is a target of AG, KNUCKLES (KNU), directly represses the stem cell identity gene WUS in the organizing center for FM termination. However, how the robust FM activity is fully quenched within a limited time frame to secure carpel development is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that KNU directly binds to the CLV1 locus and the cis-regulatory element on CLV3 promoter and represses their expression during FM determinacy control. Furthermore, KNU physically interacts with WUS, and this interaction inhibits WUS from sustaining CLV3 in the central zone. The KNU–WUS interaction also interrupts the formation ofWUS homodimers and WUS–HAIRYMERISTEM 1 heterodimers, both of which are required for FM maintenance. Overall, our findings describe a regulatory framework in which KNU plays a position-specific multifunctional role for the tightly controlled FM determinacy. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Author contributions: B.S. designed research; E.S., X.W., T.L., and F.G. performed research; E.S. and X.W. analyzed data; T.I. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; B.S. wrote the paper; and T.I. and B.S. edited versions of the paper. Edited by Martin F. Yanofsky, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, and approved July 29, 2021 (received for review February 11, 2021) |
ISSN: | 0027-8424 1091-6490 |
DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2102826118 |