PIN3 positively regulates the late initiation of ovule primordia in Arabidopsis thaliana

PLoS Genet. 2022 Mar 4;18(3):e1010077. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010077. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Ovule initiation determines the maximum ovule number and has great impact on seed number and yield. However, the regulation of ovule initiation remains largely elusive. We previously reported that most of the ovule primordia initiate asynchronously at floral stage 9 and PINFORMED1 (PIN1) polarization and auxin distribution contributed to this process. Here, we further demonstrate that a small amount of ovule primordia initiate at floral stage 10 when the existing ovules initiated at floral stage 9 start to differentiate. Genetic analysis revealed that the absence of PIN3 function leads to the reduction in pistil size and the lack of late-initiated ovules, suggesting PIN3 promotes the late ovule initiation process and pistil growth. Physiological analysis illustrated that, unlike picloram, exogenous application of NAA can't restore these defective phenotypes, implying that PIN3-mediated polar auxin transport is required for the late ovule initiation and pistil length. qRT-PCR results indicated that the expression of SEEDSTICK (STK) is up-regulated under auxin analogues treatment while is down-regulated in pin3 mutants. Meanwhile, overexpressing STK rescues pin3 phenotypes, suggesting STK participates in PIN3-mediated late ovule initiation possibly by promoting pistil growth. Furthermore, brassinosteroid influences the late ovule initiation through positively regulating PIN3 expression. Collectively, this study demonstrates that PIN3 promotes the late ovule initiation and contributes to the extra ovule number. Our results give important clues for increasing seed number and yield of cruciferous and leguminous crops.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Arabidopsis Proteins* / metabolism
  • Arabidopsis*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • Indoleacetic Acids / metabolism
  • MADS Domain Proteins / genetics
  • Ovule / genetics

Substances

  • Arabidopsis Proteins
  • Indoleacetic Acids
  • MADS Domain Proteins
  • PIN3 protein, Arabidopsis
  • SEEDSTICK protein, Arabidopsis

Grants and funding

W-H. L. received the findings from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32070342, 31771591, and 31761163003), Shanghai Jiao Tong University JiRLMDS Joint Research Fund (Project MDS-JF-2020-8), the Agri-X Interdisciplinary Fund of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Agri-X20200204 and Agri-X2017006), the Bio-X Interdisciplinary Fund of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (20CX-04), and the Scientific and Technological Innovation Funds of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (19X160020009). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.