Sussmilch Frances C, Berbel Ana, Hecht Valérie, Vander Schoor Jacqueline K, Ferrándiz Cristina, Madueño Francisco, Weller James L
School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia.
Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia 46022, Spain.
Plant Cell. 2015 Apr;27(4):1046-60. doi: 10.1105/tpc.115.136150. Epub 2015 Mar 24.
As knowledge of the gene networks regulating inflorescence development in Arabidopsis thaliana improves, the current challenge is to characterize this system in different groups of crop species with different inflorescence architecture. Pea (Pisum sativum) has served as a model for development of the compound raceme, characteristic of many legume species, and in this study, we characterize the pea VEGETATIVE2 (VEG2) locus, showing that it is critical for regulation of flowering and inflorescence development and identifying it as a homolog of the bZIP transcription factor FD. Through detailed phenotypic characterizations of veg2 mutants, expression analyses, and the use of protein-protein interaction assays, we find that VEG2 has important roles during each stage of development of the pea compound inflorescence. Our results suggest that VEG2 acts in conjunction with multiple FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) proteins to regulate expression of downstream target genes, including TERMINAL FLOWER1, LEAFY, and MADS box homologs, and to facilitate cross-regulation within the FT gene family. These findings further extend our understanding of the mechanisms underlying compound inflorescence development in pea and may have wider implications for future manipulation of inflorescence architecture in related legume crop species.
随着对调控拟南芥花序发育的基因网络的认识不断提高，当前的挑战是在具有不同花序结构的不同作物物种群体中对该系统进行表征。豌豆（Pisum sativum）已成为许多豆科物种特有的复总状花序发育的模型，在本研究中，我们对豌豆营养2（VEG2）基因座进行了表征，表明它对开花和花序发育的调控至关重要，并将其鉴定为bZIP转录因子FD的同源物。通过对veg2突变体的详细表型特征分析、表达分析以及蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用测定的应用，我们发现VEG2在豌豆复总状花序发育的每个阶段都具有重要作用。我们的结果表明，VEG2与多种开花位点T（FT）蛋白协同作用，调节下游靶基因的表达，包括终端花1、叶状和MADS盒同源物，并促进FT基因家族内的交叉调控。这些发现进一步扩展了我们对豌豆复总状花序发育机制的理解，可能对未来相关豆科作物物种花序结构的操纵具有更广泛的意义。
