School of Agriculture, Sun Yat-sen University, 518107, Shenzhen, China.
Institute of Nanfan & Seed Industry, Guangdong Academy of Science, 510316, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Nat Commun. 2023 Aug 8;14(1):4763. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40399-3.
The three-dimensional shape of a flower is integrated by morphogenesis along different axes. Differentiation along the petal proximodistal axis is tightly linked to the specification of pollinators; however, it is still unclear how a petal patterns this axis. The corolla of Torenia fournieri exhibits strong differentiation along the proximodistal axis, and we previously found a proximal regulator, TfALOG3, controlling corolla neck differentiation. Here, we report another gene, TfBOP2, which is predominantly expressed in the proximal region of the corolla. TfBOP2 mutants have shorter proximal corolla tubes and longer distal lobe, demonstrating its function as a proximal regulator. Arabidopsis BOPs mutant shows similar defects, favouring a shared role of BOPs homologues. Genetic analysis demonstrates the interaction between TfBOP2 and TfALOG3, and we further found that TfALOG3 physically interacts with TfBOP2 and can recruit TfBOP2 to the nuclear region. Our study favours a hypothetical shared BOP-ALOG complex that is recruited to regulate corolla differentiation in the proximal region axis of T. fournieri.
花的三维形状是通过不同轴向上的形态发生而整合的。沿着花瓣近-远轴的分化与传粉者的特化紧密相关；然而，花瓣如何塑造这个轴仍然不清楚。四籽野牡丹的花冠沿着近-远轴具有强烈的分化，我们之前发现了一个近端调节因子 TfALOG3，它控制着花冠颈的分化。在这里，我们报告了另一个基因 TfBOP2，它主要在花冠的近端区域表达。TfBOP2 突变体具有较短的近端花冠管和较长的远端裂片，表明其作为近端调节因子的功能。拟南芥 BOPs 突变体表现出相似的缺陷，表明 BOPs 同源物具有共同的作用。遗传分析表明 TfBOP2 和 TfALOG3 之间存在相互作用，我们进一步发现 TfALOG3 与 TfBOP2 发生物理相互作用，并能将 TfBOP2 招募到核区域。我们的研究支持了一个假设的共享 BOP-ALOG 复合物，该复合物被招募到四籽野牡丹的近端区域轴来调节花冠分化。
