Yin Dedong, Liu Xue, Shi Zhenying, Li Dayong, Zhu Lihuang
State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; Reproductive Physiology Laboratory, National Research Institute for Family Planning, Beijing 100081, China.
CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Jan 1;495(1):487-492. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.11.031. Epub 2017 Nov 7.
The cereal crops (such as rice and maize) which belong to the grass family, are the most important grain crops for human beings, and the development of their flower and inflorescence architecture has attracted extensive attention. Although multiple genes involved in the regulation of floral and inflorescence organogenesis have been identified, the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Previously, we identified rice depressed palea1 (dp1) mutants with defects in main structure of palea and its enhancer RETARDED PALEA1 (REP1). DP1 is an AT-hook protein while REP1 is a TCP transcription factor, both of which are important regulators of palea development. However, the relationship of these two proteins has not been elucidated yet. Here, we demonstrated that DP1 interacts physically with REP1 both in yeast and in rice protoplasts. Considering the close phylogenetic relationship between maize and rice, we further hypothesize that their orthologs in maize, BARREN STALK FASTIGIATE (BAF1) and BRANCH ANGLE DEFECTIVE 1 (BAD1), may interact physically. Subsequently, we verified their physical interaction, indicating that the interaction between AT-hook proteins and TCP proteins is conserved in rice and maize. Our findings may reveal a novel molecular mechanism of floral and inflorescence development in grasses.
禾本科的谷类作物（如水稻和玉米）是人类最重要的粮食作物，其花和花序结构的发育受到广泛关注。尽管已经鉴定出多个参与花和花序器官发生调控的基因，但其潜在的分子机制仍 largely 未知。此前，我们鉴定了稃片主要结构存在缺陷的水稻稃片发育不良 1（dp1）突变体及其增强子 RETARDED PALEA1（REP1）。DP1 是一种 AT 钩蛋白，而 REP1 是一种 TCP 转录因子，两者都是稃片发育的重要调节因子。然而，这两种蛋白之间的关系尚未阐明。在这里，我们证明了 DP1 在酵母和水稻原生质体中均与 REP1 发生物理相互作用。考虑到玉米和水稻之间密切的系统发育关系，我们进一步推测它们在玉米中的直系同源基因，即无果穗紧凑（BAF1）和分枝角度缺陷 1（BAD1），可能发生物理相互作用。随后，我们验证了它们的物理相互作用，表明 AT 钩蛋白和 TCP 蛋白之间的相互作用在水稻和玉米中是保守的。我们的发现可能揭示了禾本科植物花和花序发育的一种新的分子机制。
