Dong Zhaonian, Liu Xiaolin, Guo Xing, Liu Xun, Wang Bowen, Shao Wenwen, Tian Caihuan, Zheng Yingying, Yu Qiong, Zhong Liyuan, Sun Jinjing, Li Shengkang, Xin Tongxu, Zhang Bohan, Yang Tao, Lu Haorong, Rose Jocelyn K C, Lucas William J, Xu Xun, Huang Sanwen, Liu Huan, Yang Xueyong
State Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biobreeding, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Nat Plants. 2025 Apr;11(4):861-877. doi: 10.1038/s41477-025-01950-w. Epub 2025 Apr 1.
In flowering plants, inferior ovaries are key morphological innovations that evolved multiple times from superior ovaries to protect female parts of the flower. However, the developmental mechanisms underlying inferior ovary formation remain largely unknown. Comparative spatial transcriptome mapping and cell lineage reconstructions in developing floral buds of cucumber and tomato, which have inferior and superior ovaries, respectively, revealed that inferior ovaries develop from accelerated receptacle growth resulting from the continuous activity of meristematic stems cells at the base of the cucumber floral organs. Genetic knockout of a receptacle-specific KNOX1 transcription factor in cucumber caused arrest in receptacle growth and yielded bisexual flowers with superior ovaries similar to those of tomato. Here we provide developmental and mechanistic insights into inferior ovary formation and sex determination in cucurbits.
在开花植物中，下位子房是关键的形态学创新结构，它从上位子房多次进化而来，以保护花的雌性部分。然而，下位子房形成的发育机制在很大程度上仍不清楚。分别对具有下位子房和上位子房的黄瓜和番茄发育中的花芽进行比较空间转录组图谱绘制和细胞谱系重建，结果表明，下位子房是由黄瓜花器官基部的分生组织干细胞持续活动导致花托加速生长而发育形成的。在黄瓜中对花托特异性KNOX1转录因子进行基因敲除，导致花托生长停滞，并产生具有与番茄类似的上位子房的两性花。在这里，我们提供了关于葫芦科植物下位子房形成和性别决定的发育及机制方面的见解。
