SPL转录因子调控植物花发育及其分子机制研究进展

SPL(squamosa promoter-binding protein-like)转录因子是植物所特有的一类基因家族,广泛存在于绿色植物中,在植物生长发育中具有重要作用。花发育是植物生殖发育中最为重要的一个过程,涉及不同发育方式的转变,即开花决定、花的发端和花器官发生与发育。简要综述了SPL基因的结构与功能并着重阐述了SPL基因在植物花发育过程中的分子机制及生物学功能。最后总结出: SPL转录因子可直接或间接通过参与光周期途径,赤霉素途径及年龄途径来调控植物的开花时间; SPL基因可通过直接激活下游花分生组织特异基因,如LEAFY(LFY),从而调控植物的成花转变; SPL基因可通过与下游花器官特征基因相互作用来调控花器官及其育性的发育,如调控花序、花柄的长度与外形及花器官的大小; SPL基因可调控植物大小孢子发生及雌雄配子体发育。据拟南芥的相关研究结果,初步构绘出拟南芥开花调控中的分子机制。     

拟南芥开花时间的分子遗传调控

拟南芥开花主要受四种遗传途径调控,即:光周期途径,春化途径,自主途径和赤霉素途径。各种途径之间通过CO,FLC,FT,SOC1等主效基因的相互作用,最终调节花特异性基因AP1和LFY的表达,从而调控拟南芥的开花时间,其中各种突变体的研究揭示了相关基因的功能。这些主效基因中,CO基因对光周期途径是特异的,FLC基因对开花起抑制作用。其它因素如环境、基因染色质结构的改变、酶等对拟南芥开花时间的影响有待进一步的研究。     

Integration of floral inductive signals in Arabidopsis

Flowering of Arabidopsis is regulated by a daylength-dependent pathway that accelerates flowering in long days and a daylength-independent pathway that ensures flowering in the absence of inductive conditions. These pathways are genetically separable, as there are mutations that delay flowering in long but not short days. Conversely, mutations that block synthesis of the hormone gibberellin abolish flowering in short days, but have on their own only a minor effect in long days. A third pathway, the autonomous pathway, probably acts by modulating the other two pathways. Understanding where and how these pathways are integrated is a prerequisite for understanding why similar environmental or endogenous cues can elicit opposite flowering responses in different plants. In Arabidopsis, floral induction leads ultimately to the upregulation of floral meristem-identity genes such as LEAFY, indicating that floral inductive signals are integrated upstream of LEAFY Here we show that gibberellins activate the LEAFY promoter through cis elements that are different from those that are sufficient for the daylength response, demonstrating that the LEAFY promoter integrates environmental and endogenous signals controlling flowering time.     

Adaptation of photoperiodic control pathways produces short-day flowering in rice

The photoperiodic control of flowering is one of the important developmental processes of plants because it is directly related to successful reproduction. Although the molecular genetic analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana, a long-day (LD) plant, has provided models to explain the control of flowering time in this species, very little is known about its molecular mechanisms for short-day (SD) plants. Here we show how the photoperiodic control of flowering is regulated in rice, a SD plant. Overexpression of OsGI, an orthologue of the Arabidopsis GIGANTEA (GI) gene in transgenic rice, caused late flowering under both SD and LD conditions. Expression of the rice orthologue of the Arabidopsis CONSTANS (CO) gene was increased in the transgenic rice, whereas expression of the rice orthologue of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) was suppressed. Our results indicate that three key regulatory genes for the photoperiodic control of flowering are conserved between Arabidopsis, a LD plant, and rice, a SD plant, but regulation of the FT gene by CO was reversed, resulting in the suppression of flowering in rice under LD conditions.     

Functional characterization and mapping of two MADS box genes from peach (Prunus persica)

Previously an AGAMOUS gene homologue PpMADS4 and a FRUITFULL gene homologue PpMADS6 were isolated from peach (Prunus persica), and both genes were shown to express in the developing floral and fruits. To gain insight into their function, the two genes were constitutively expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana and their effects on plant growth and floral organ development were studied in this work. The transgenic plants all displayed early flowering and conversion of inflorescence to floral meristem. However, the two genes had different effects on the floral organ structures in A. thaliana. The transgenic plants overexpressing PpMADS4 displayed homeotic conversion of floral organs, and par- ticularly the perianth abscission was inhibited. The plants overexpressing PpMADS6 showed early flowering, produced higher number of carpels, petals, and stamens than nontransgenic plants, and pod shatter was prevented; significantly, the transgenic plants yielded more than one siliques from a single flower. A SSR molecular marker was developed for PpMADS4, and it was then assigned into the G5 linkage group of Prunus sp. Both PpMADS4 and PpMADS6 genes were located at the same region in the G5 linkage group. Our results showed the potential application of these two MADS box genes for crop and fruit tree improvement.     

The grapevine genome sequence suggests ancestral hexaploidization in major angiosperm phyla

The analysis of the first plant genomes provided unexpected evidence for genome duplication events in species that had previously been considered as true diploids on the basis of their genetics. These polyploidization events may have had important consequences in plant evolution, in particular for species radiation and adaptation and for the modulation of functional capacities. Here we report a high-quality draft of the genome sequence of grapevine (Vitis vinifera) obtained from a highly homozygous genotype. The draft sequence of the grapevine genome is the fourth one produced so far for flowering plants, the second for a woody species and the first for a fruit crop (cultivated for both fruit and beverage). Grapevine was selected because of its important place in the cultural heritage of humanity beginning during the Neolithic period. Several large expansions of gene families with roles in aromatic features are observed. The grapevine genome has not undergone recent genome duplication, thus enabling the discovery of ancestral traits and features of the genetic organization of flowering plants. This analysis reveals the contribution of three ancestral genomes to the grapevine haploid content. This ancestral arrangement is common to many dicotyledonous plants but is absent from the genome of rice, which is a monocotyledon. Furthermore, we explain the chronology of previously described whole-genome duplication events in the evolution of flowering plants.     

F-box proteins in flowering plants

In eukaryotes, the ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation pathway has been shown to control several key biological processes such as cell division, development, metabolism and immune response. F-box proteins, as a part of SCF (Skp1-Cullin (or Cdc53)-F-box) complex, functioned by interacting with substrate proteins, leading to their subsequent degradation by the 26S proteasome. To date, several F-box proteins identified in Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum have been shown to play important roles in auxin signal transduction, floral organ formation, flowering and leaf senescence. Arabidopsis genome sequence analysis revealed that it encodes over 1000 predicted F-box proteins accounting for about 5% of total predicted proteins. These results indicate that the ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation involving the F-box proteins is an important mechanism controlling plant gene expression. Here, we review the known F-box proteins and their functionsin flowering plants.     

水蕨(Ceratopteris thalictroides)两条MADS-box基因的克隆与分析

MADS-box转录因子,作为一个大的基因家族,在植物生长发育过程中起重要作用,尤其是作为开花植物花器官形成的主要调控者.该基因家族在揭示进化方面也有着重大意义.为了探究MADS-box基因的进化,需要更多的非开花植物中MADS-box基因的信息.选取水蕨(Ceratopteris thalictroides)作为材料,用RACE方法对其MADS-box基因进行克隆与分析.在水蕨中克隆得到两条MADS-box基因,分别命名为CtMADS1和CtMADS2.分析显示:CtMADS1属于MIKC*分支,而CtMADS2属于MIKCc分支,水蕨的这2条MADS-box基因与开花植物的MADS-box基因有着很近的亲缘关系,现在维管植物最近的共同祖先中至少存在2条不同的花同源异形基因,即MADS-box基因.     

Microtubule basis for left-handed helical growth in Arabidopsis

Left-right asymmetry in plants can be found in helices of stalks, stems and tendrils, and in fan-like petal arrangements. The handedness in these asymmetric structures is often fixed in given species, indicating that genetic factors control asymmetric development. Here we show that dominant negative mutations at the tubulin intradimer interface of alpha-tubulins 4 and 6 cause left-handed helical growth and clockwise twisting in elongating organs of Arabidopsis thaliana. We demonstrate that the mutant tubulins incorporate into microtubule polymers, producing right-handed obliquely oriented cortical arrays, in the root epidermal cells. The cortical microtubules in the mutants had increased sensitivity to microtubule-specific drugs. These results suggest that reduced microtubule stability can produce left-handed helical growth in plants.     

The ELF4 gene controls circadian rhythms and flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana

Many plants use day length as an environmental cue to ensure proper timing of the switch from vegetative to reproductive growth. Day-length sensing involves an interaction between the relative length of day and night, and endogenous rhythms that are controlled by the plant circadian clock. Thus, plants with defects in circadian regulation cannot properly regulate the timing of the floral transition. Here we describe the gene EARLY FLOWERING 4 (ELF4), which is involved in photoperiod perception and circadian regulation. ELF4 promotes clock accuracy and is required for sustained rhythms in the absence of daily light/dark cycles. elf4 mutants show attenuated expression of CIRCADIAN CLOCK ASSOCIATED 1 (CCA1), a gene that is thought to function as a central oscillator component. In addition, elf4 plants transiently show output rhythms with highly variable period lengths before becoming arrhythmic. Mutations in elf4 result in early flowering in non-inductive photoperiods, which is probably caused by elevated amounts of CONSTANS (CO), a gene that promotes floral induction.     

CONSTANS-LIKE 7基因对拟南芥开花的调控分析

为研究CONSTANS-LIKE 7(COL7)在调控植物开花方面的功能,以定量PCR,GUS染色等方法,研究光及生物钟对COL7表达的影响,以及COL7对拟南芥开花的影响.实验结果显示:光及生物钟参与调控COL7的表达;过表达COL7在长日照条件下抑制CONSTANS(CO)以及FLOWERING LOCUS T(FT)的表达,进而抑制拟南芥开花;col7突变体不论是在长日照下还是短日照下都没有明显的开花表型,说明COL7在调控拟南芥开化方面可能与其家族基因中的其它成员存在功能冗余.     

Control of flowering and storage organ formation in potato by FLOWERING LOCUS T

Seasonal fluctuations in day length regulate important aspects of plant development such as the flowering transition or, in potato (Solanum tuberosum), the formation of tubers. Day length is sensed by the leaves, which produce a mobile signal transported to the shoot apex or underground stems to induce a flowering transition or, respectively, a tuberization transition. Work in Arabidopsis, tomato and rice (Oryza sativa) identified the mobile FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein as a main component of the long-range 'florigen', or flowering hormone, signal. Here we show that expression of the Hd3a gene, the FT orthologue in rice, induces strict short-day potato types to tuberize in long days. Tuber induction is graft transmissible and the Hd3a-GFP protein is detected in the stolons of grafted plants, transport of the fusion protein thus correlating with tuber formation. We provide evidence showing that the potato floral and tuberization transitions are controlled by two different FT-like paralogues (StSP3D and StSP6A) that respond to independent environmental cues, and show that an autorelay mechanism involving CONSTANS modulates expression of the tuberization-control StSP6A gene.     

Functional characterization and mapping of two MADS box genes from peach （Prunus persica）

Previously an AGAMOUS gene homologue PpMADS4 and a FRUITFULL gene homologue PpMADS6 were isolated from peach （Prunus persica）, and both genes were shown to express in the developing floral and fruits. To gain insight into their function, the two genes were constitutively expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana and their effects on plant growth and floral organ development were studied in this work. The transgenic plants all displayed early flowering and conversion of inflorescence to floral meristem. However, the two genes had different effects on the floral organ structures in A. thaliana. The transgenic plants overexpressing PpMADS4 displayed homeotic conversion of floral organs, and particularly the perianth abscission was inhibited. The plants overexpressing PpMADS6 showed early flowering, produced higher number of carpels, petals, and stamens than nontransgenic plants, and pod shatter was prevented; significantly, the transgenic plants yielded more than one siliques from a single flower. A SSR molecular marker was developed for PpMADS4, and it was then assigned into the G5 linkage group of Prunus sp. Both PpMADS4 and PpMADS6 genes were located at the same region in the G5 linkage group. Our results showed the potential application of these two MADS box genes for crop and fruit tree improvement.     

Gene regulation: ancient microRNA target sequences in plants

MicroRNAs are an abundant class of small RNAs that are thought to regulate the expression of protein-coding genes in plants and animals. Here we show that the target sequence of two microRNAs, known to regulate genes in the class-III homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) gene family of the flowering plant Arabidopsis, is conserved in homologous sequences from all lineages of land plants, including bryophytes, lycopods, ferns and seed plants. We also find that the messenger RNAs from these genes are cleaved within the same microRNA-binding site in representatives of each land-plant group, as they are in Arabidopsis. Our results indicate not only that microRNAs mediate gene regulation in non-flowering as well as flowering plants, but also that the regulation of this class of plant genes dates back more than 400 million years.     

Evolution of genetic mechanisms controlling petal development.

Molecular genetic studies in Arabidopsis thaliana and other higher-eudicot flowering plants have led to the development of the 'ABC' model of the determination of organ identity in flowers, in which three classes of gene, A, B and C, are thought to work together to determine organ identity. According to this model, the B-class genes APETALA3 (AP3) and PISTILLATA (PI) act to specify petal and stamen identity. Here we test whether the roles of these genes are conserved throughout the angiosperms by analysing the expression of AP3 and PI orthologues in the lower eudicot subclass Ranunculidae. We show that, although expression of these orthologues in the stamens is conserved, the expression patterns in the petals differ from those found in the higher eudicots. The differences between these expression patterns suggest that the function of AP3 and PI homologues as B-class organ-identity genes is not rigidly conserved among all angiosperms. These observations have important implications for understanding the evolution of both angiosperm petals and the genetic mechanisms that control the identities of floral organs.     

拟南芥雄性不育突变体nps的基因定位

nps是经EMS诱变筛选得到的一拟南芥雄性不育突变体．通过背景纯化与遗传分析，发现nps突变体是受隐性单基因控制．形态学观察表明，突变体的花缺失花瓣和雄蕊，主要由两轮萼片和一轮肥大的雌蕊组成．利用图位克隆的方法对不育基因NPs进行了定位，结果表明NPS位于第五条染色体上分子标记F15L12和MHJ24之间1378kb的区间内．数据库预测该区间内包含10个与花发育ABC模型相关的基因，因此，对NPS基因的研究有助于深入了解拟南芥的花发育过程与花器官形成．     

拟南芥18srRNA参与隐花色素介导的信号传导途径的研究

通过筛选以拟南芥蓝光受体隐花色素双突变体cry1cry2为遗传背景的激活标签突变体库,得到一株SCC98-D株系,该突变体具有早开花,下胚轴变短,并具有花瓣数目增加等表型,彻底恢复了cry1cry2的晚开花和长下胚轴表型.通过Tail-PCR的方法克隆得到SCC98-D突变体中激活标签插入位点的侧翼序列,通过对该侧翼序列测序发现插入位点在18srRNA的1751bp处,运用RT-PCR方法分析插入位点周围基因的表达,发现只有18srRNA的表达被激活,由此证实了18srRNA参与隐花色素介导的信号传导途径.