Suppresses Megasporocyte Cell Fate Through SWR1-mediated Activation of Expression in

Overview

Journal Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Specialty Science

Date 2017 Dec 31

PMID 29288215

Citations 40

Authors

Lihua Zhao

Hanyang Cai

Zhenxia Su

Lulu Wang

Xinyu Huang

Man Zhang

Piaojuan Chen

Xiaozhuan Dai

Heming Zhao

Ravishankar Palanivelu

Xuemei Chen

Yuan Qin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Germ-line specification is essential for sexual reproduction. In the ovules of most flowering plants, only a single hypodermal cell enlarges and differentiates into a megaspore mother cell (MMC), the founder cell of the female germ-line lineage. The molecular mechanisms restricting MMC specification to a single cell remain elusive. We show that the transcription factor is exclusively expressed in hypodermal somatic cells surrounding the MMC and is required to repress these cells from acquiring MMC-like cell identity. In this process, the SWR1 chromatin remodeling complex mediates the incorporation of the histone variant H2A.Z at the locus. Moreover, the cytochrome P450 gene , expressed in inner integument primordia, non-cell-autonomously promotes expression through H2A.Z deposition at Taken together, our findings show how somatic cells in ovule primordia cooperatively use chromatin remodeling to restrict germ-line cell specification to a single cell.

Citing Articles

The WRKY28-BRC1 Transcription Factor Module Controls Shoot Branching in .

Zhang K, Zhang J, Cui C, Chai L, Zheng B, Jiang L Plants (Basel). 2025; 14(3).

PMID: 39943050 PMC: 11820759. DOI: 10.3390/plants14030486.

The DNA methylation-demethylation balance prevents development of multiple megaspore mother cells in Arabidopsis.

Jiang T, Li L, Hu Q, Kuang X, Zhang L, Zeng W Plant Cell. 2025; 37(2).

PMID: 39899470 PMC: 11827614. DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koaf023.

Revisiting the female germline cell development.

Huang Y, Zhang Y, Yang J, Xi X, Liu Y, Cai H Front Plant Sci. 2025; 15:1525729.

PMID: 39877734 PMC: 11773337. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1525729.

Epigenetics in the modern era of crop improvements.

Xue Y, Cao X, Chen X, Deng X, Deng X, Ding Y Sci China Life Sci. 2025; .

PMID: 39808224 DOI: 10.1007/s11427-024-2784-3.

Rapid Video Analysis for Contraction Synchrony of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells-Derived Cardiac Tissues.

Jiang Y, Xue M, Ou L, Wu H, Yang J, Zhang W Tissue Eng Regen Med. 2025; 22(2):211-224.

PMID: 39804547 PMC: 11794902. DOI: 10.1007/s13770-024-00688-4.

References

Yudkovsky N, Logie C, Hahn S, Peterson C . Recruitment of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex by transcriptional activators. Genes Dev. 1999; 13(18):2369-74. PMC: 317021. DOI: 10.1101/gad.13.18.2369. View

Van Verk M, Bol J, Linthorst H . WRKY transcription factors involved in activation of SA biosynthesis genes. BMC Plant Biol. 2011; 11:89. PMC: 3120740. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2229-11-89. View

Su Z, Zhao L, Zhao Y, Li S, Won S, Cai H . The THO Complex Non-Cell-Autonomously Represses Female Germline Specification through the TAS3-ARF3 Module. Curr Biol. 2017; 27(11):1597-1609.e2. PMC: 5544534. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.05.021. View

Nonomura K, Miyoshi K, Eiguchi M, Suzuki T, Miyao A, Hirochika H . The MSP1 gene is necessary to restrict the number of cells entering into male and female sporogenesis and to initiate anther wall formation in rice. Plant Cell. 2003; 15(8):1728-39. PMC: 167165. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.012401. View

Nonomura K, Morohoshi A, Nakano M, Eiguchi M, Miyao A, Hirochika H . A germ cell specific gene of the ARGONAUTE family is essential for the progression of premeiotic mitosis and meiosis during sporogenesis in rice. Plant Cell. 2007; 19(8):2583-94. PMC: 2002623. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.107.053199. View

Grossniklaus U, Schneitz K . The molecular and genetic basis of ovule and megagametophyte development. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 1998; 9(2):227-38. DOI: 10.1006/scdb.1997.0214. View

Hejatko J, Blilou I, Brewer P, Friml J, Scheres B, Benkova E . In situ hybridization technique for mRNA detection in whole mount Arabidopsis samples. Nat Protoc. 2007; 1(4):1939-46. DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2006.333. View

Bachelier J, Friedman W . Female gamete competition in an ancient angiosperm lineage. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011; 108(30):12360-5. PMC: 3145725. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1104697108. View

Sura W, Kabza M, Karlowski W, Bieluszewski T, Kus-Slowinska M, Paweloszek L . Dual Role of the Histone Variant H2A.Z in Transcriptional Regulation of Stress-Response Genes. Plant Cell. 2017; 29(4):791-807. PMC: 5435421. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.16.00573. View

10.

Payne T, Johnson S, Koltunow A . KNUCKLES (KNU) encodes a C2H2 zinc-finger protein that regulates development of basal pattern elements of the Arabidopsis gynoecium. Development. 2004; 131(15):3737-49. DOI: 10.1242/dev.01216. View

11.

Rodriguez-Leal D, Leon-Martinez G, Abad-Vivero U, Vielle-Calzada J . Natural variation in epigenetic pathways affects the specification of female gamete precursors in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. 2015; 27(4):1034-45. PMC: 4558685. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.114.133009. View

12.

Cai H, Zhao L, Wang L, Zhang M, Su Z, Cheng Y . ERECTA signaling controls Arabidopsis inflorescence architecture through chromatin-mediated activation of PRE1 expression. New Phytol. 2017; 214(4):1579-1596. DOI: 10.1111/nph.14521. View

13.

March-Diaz R, Garcia-Dominguez M, Florencio F, Reyes J . SEF, a new protein required for flowering repression in Arabidopsis, interacts with PIE1 and ARP6. Plant Physiol. 2006; 143(2):893-901. PMC: 1803727. DOI: 10.1104/pp.106.092270. View

14.

Grossniklaus U . Plant germline development: a tale of cross-talk, signaling, and cellular interactions. Sex Plant Reprod. 2011; 24(2):91-5. DOI: 10.1007/s00497-011-0170-3. View

15.

Zilberman D, Coleman-Derr D, Ballinger T, Henikoff S . Histone H2A.Z and DNA methylation are mutually antagonistic chromatin marks. Nature. 2008; 456(7218):125-9. PMC: 2877514. DOI: 10.1038/nature07324. View

16.

Subramanian V, Fields P, Boyer L . H2A.Z: a molecular rheostat for transcriptional control. F1000Prime Rep. 2015; 7:01. PMC: 4311278. DOI: 10.12703/P7-01. View

17.

Cosma M, Tanaka T, Nasmyth K . Ordered recruitment of transcription and chromatin remodeling factors to a cell cycle- and developmentally regulated promoter. Cell. 1999; 97(3):299-311. DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80740-0. View

18.

Hiratsu K, Matsui K, Koyama T, Ohme-Takagi M . Dominant repression of target genes by chimeric repressors that include the EAR motif, a repression domain, in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 2003; 34(5):733-9. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-313x.2003.01759.x. View

19.

Schmidt A, Wuest S, Vijverberg K, Baroux C, Kleen D, Grossniklaus U . Transcriptome analysis of the Arabidopsis megaspore mother cell uncovers the importance of RNA helicases for plant germline development. PLoS Biol. 2011; 9(9):e1001155. PMC: 3176755. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001155. View

20.

Rushton P, Somssich I, Ringler P, Shen Q . WRKY transcription factors. Trends Plant Sci. 2010; 15(5):247-58. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2010.02.006. View