Function and molecular mechanism of a poplar placenta limited MIXTA gene in regulating differentiation of plant epidermal cells

Fangwei Zhou, Huaitong Wu, Yingnan Chen, Mingxiu Wang, Gerald A. Tuskan, Tongming Yin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The placenta in fruits of most plants either desiccate and shrink as the fruits mature or develop further to form the fleshy tissues. In poplars, placental epidermal cells protrude collectively to produce catkin fibers. In this study, three carpel limited MIXTA genes, PdeMIXTA02, PdeMIXTA03, PdeMIXTA04, were find to specifically expressed in carpel immediately after pollination. Heterologous expression of the three genes in Arabidopsis demonstrated that PdeMIXTA04 significantly promoted trichomes density and could restore trichomes in the trichomeless mutant. By contrast, such functions were not observed with PdeMIXTA02, PdeMIXTA03. In situ hybridization revealed that PdeMIXTA04 was explicitly expressed in poplar placental epidermal cells. We also confirmed trichome-specific expression of the PdeMIXTA04 promoter. Multiple experimental proofs have confirmed the interaction between PdeMIXTA04, PdeMYC and PdeWD40, indicating PdeMIXTA04 functioned through the MYB-bHLH-WD40 ternary complex. Our work provided distinctive understanding of the molecular mechanism triggering differentiation of poplar catkins.

Original languageEnglish
Article number124743
JournalInternational Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Volume242
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 1 2023

Funding

The work is supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan of China ( 2021YFD2200202 ), the National Natural Science Foundation of China ( 31800562 , 32071795 ), and the Key Research and Development Project of Jiangsu Province , China ( BE2021366 ).

Keywords

  • Epidermal cell
  • MIXTA gene
  • Poplar catkin

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