miR319-Regulated TCP3 Modulates Silique Development Associated with Seed Shattering in Brassicaceae

Cells. 2022 Oct 1;11(19):3096. doi: 10.3390/cells11193096.

Abstract

Seed shattering is an undesirable trait that leads to crop yield loss. Improving silique resistance to shattering is critical for grain and oil crops. In this study, we found that miR319-targeted TEOSINTE BRANCHED 1, CYCLOIDEA, and PROLIFERATING CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN BINDING FACTOR (TCPs) inhibited the process of post-fertilized fruits (silique) elongation and dehiscence via regulation of FRUITFULL (FUL) expression in Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus. AtMIR319a activation resulted in a longer silique with thickened and lignified replum, whereas overexpression of an miR319a-resistant version of AtTCP3 (mTCP3) led to a short silique with narrow and less lignified replum. Further genetic and expressional analysis suggested that FUL acted downstream of TCP3 to negatively regulate silique development. Moreover, hyper-activation of BnTCP3.A8, a B. napus homolog of AtTCP3, in rapeseed resulted in an enhanced silique resistance to shattering due to attenuated replum development. Taken together, our findings advance our knowledge of TCP-regulated silique development and provide a potential target for genetic manipulation to reduce silique shattering in Brassica crops.

Keywords: Arabidopsis; TCP3; miR319; rapeseed; silique shattering.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis Proteins* / genetics
  • Arabidopsis Proteins* / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis* / genetics
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Brassica napus* / genetics
  • Brassica napus* / metabolism
  • Brassica* / genetics
  • MicroRNAs* / genetics
  • MicroRNAs* / metabolism
  • Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / metabolism
  • Seeds / genetics

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors
  • MIRN319 microRNA, Arabidopsis
  • MicroRNAs
  • Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen
  • TCP3 protein, Arabidopsis

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2016YFD0101900 and 2016YFD0100500) and the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 31771442 and 31571261).