An early stage flower of Arabidopsis thaliana. Using confocal microscopy, Shang Erlei et al. found that KNUCKLES (KNU), encoding a C2H2-type zinc finger repressor, expresses in floral meristem (shown in red) from floral stage 6 and overlaps with the stem cell marker gene CLVTAVA3 (CLV3) expressing cells (shown in green). Further, KNU directly repressed CLV3 and mediates a regulatory framework for the timely controlled floral meristem determinacy. Credit: Bo Sun
According to
the new study ‘Robust control of floral meristem determinacy by
position-specific multifunctions of KNUCKLES’ published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from
Nanjing University and Nara Institute of Science and Technology, have found
that KNUCKLES (KNU) a small multi-functional protein, aids flowers to complete
their development correctly and in a timely manner as observed in the flowering
plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Proper floral
development within a stipulated time frame has always stayed a mystery until now.
Researchers from Japan and China have discovered how a multi-tasking protein
helps flowers to develop as expected.
Flowers develop
from floral meristems, which differentiate to produce the sepals, petals,
stamens, and carpels. The proper development of these floral organs depends on
meristem development being completed within a certain time period. In the early
stages of flower development, stem cells provide the cell source for floral
organ formation. In floral meristems, stem cell activities are maintained via a
feedback loop between WUSCHEL (WUS), a gene that identifies floral stem cells,
and CLAVATA3 (CLV3), a stem cell marker gene that is activated and sustained by
WUS.
"A small protein called KNUCKLES
(KNU) represses WUS directly, which leads to the completion of floral stem cell
activity at the right time," says lead author Erlei Shang of the study.
"What isn't fully understood is how the robust floral stem cell activity
finishes within a limited time period to ensure carpel development."
"The team's research revealed
that in Arabidopsis thaliana, KNU can completely deactivate the robust floral
meristems at a particular floral stage, thanks to the multiple functions that
KNU carries out via its position-specific roles," says senior author
Toshiro Ito.
KNU both
represses and silences WUS, and directly represses CLV3 and CLV1 (a gene that
encodes a receptor for the CLV3 peptide). Consequently, KNU eliminates the
CLV3-WUS feedback loop via transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms (i.e.,
those that do not involve changes in the underlying DNA sequences).
Additionally, KNU interacts physically with the WUS protein, which inhibits WUS
from sustaining CLV3, disrupting interactions that are required for the
maintenance of floral meristems.
"Our results reveal a regulatory
pathway where KNU plays a key role in supporting the completion of floral
meristem development within a short time window, and ensures that flower
reproductive organs are properly formed," says corresponding author Bo
Sun.
This research will be beneficial for genetic studies of food crop species such as rice,
tomatoes, maize and assist them to better understand the floral meristem termination
mechanism as per the new findings, which will profit crop yields for food production
globally.
