First published online May 12, 2009; 10.1105/tpc.109.065508
The Plant Cell 21:1394-1409 (2009)
© 2009 American Society of Plant Biologists
The NGATHA Genes Direct Style Development in the Arabidopsis Gynoecium[C],[W]
Marina Triguerosa,1,
Marisa Navarrete-Gómeza,1,
Shusei Satob,
Sioux K. Christensenc,
Soraya Pelazb,d,
Detlef Weigelc,e,
Martin F. Yanofskyb and
Cristina Ferrándiza,b,2
a Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Universidad Politécnica de Valenica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 46022 Valencia, Spain
b Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
c Plant Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California 92037
d Institució Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avançats and Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
e Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
2 Address correspondence to cferrandiz{at}ibmcp.upv.es.
The gynoecium is the most complex floral organ, designed to protect the ovules and ensure their fertilization. Correct patterning and tissue specification in the developing gynoecium involves the concerted action of a host of genetic factors. In addition, apical-basal patterning into different domains, stigma and style, ovary and gynophore, appears to depend on the establishment and maintenance of asymmetric auxin distribution, with an auxin maximum at the apex. Here, we show that a small subfamily of the B3 transcription factor superfamily, the NGATHA (NGA) genes, act redundantly to specify style development in a dosage-dependent manner. Characterization of the NGA gene family is based on an analysis of the activation-tagged mutant named tower-of-pisa1 (top1), which was found to overexpress NGA3. Quadruple nga mutants completely lack style and stigma development. This mutant phenotype is likely caused by a failure to activate two auxin biosynthetic enzymes, YUCCA2 and YUCCA4, in the apical gynoecium domain. The NGA mutant phenotypes are similar to those caused by multiple combinations of mutations in STYLISH1 (STY1) and additional members of its family. NGA3/TOP1 and STY1 share almost identical patterns of expression, but they do not appear to regulate each other at the transcriptional level. Strong synergistic phenotypes are observed when nga3/top1 and sty1 mutants are combined. Furthermore, constitutive expression of both NGA3/TOP1 and STY1 induces the conversion of the ovary into style tissue. Taken together, these data suggest that the NGA and STY factors act cooperatively to promote style specification, in part by directing YUCCA-mediated auxin synthesis in the apical gynoecium domain.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|
|
 
J. L. Stewart and J. L. Nemhauser
Do Trees Grow on Money? Auxin as the Currency of the Cellular Economy
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol,
February 1, 2010;
2(2):
a001420 - a001420.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. H. Kwon, B. H. Lee, E. Y. Kim, Y. S. Seo, S. Lee, W. T. Kim, J. T. Song, and J. H. Kim
Overexpression of a Brassica rapa NGATHA Gene in Arabidopsis thaliana Negatively Affects Cell Proliferation During Lateral Organ and Root Growth
Plant Cell Physiol.,
December 1, 2009;
50(12):
2162 - 2173.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. Sundberg and L. Ostergaard
Distinct and Dynamic Auxin Activities During Reproductive Development
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol,
December 1, 2009;
1(6):
a001628 - a001628.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Rawat, J. Schwartz, M. A. Jones, I. Sairanen, Y. Cheng, C. R. Andersson, Y. Zhao, K. Ljung, and S. L. Harmer
REVEILLE1, a Myb-like transcription factor, integrates the circadian clock and auxin pathways
PNAS,
September 29, 2009;
106(39):
16883 - 16888.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
