Rice transcription factor MADS32 regulates floral patterning through interactions with multiple floral homeotic genes

Abstract

Floral patterning is regulated by intricate networks of floral identity genes. The peculiar MADS32 subfamily genes, absent in eudicots but prevalent in monocots, control floral organ identity. However, how the MADS32 family genes interact with other floral homeotic genes during flower development is mostly unknown. We show here that the rice homeotic transcription factor OsMADS32 regulates floral patterning by interacting synergistically with E class protein OsMADS6 in a dosage-dependent manner. Furthermore, our results indicate important roles for OsMADS32 in defining stamen, pistil, and ovule development through physical and genetic interactions with OsMADS1, OsMADS58, and OsMADS13, and in specifying floral meristem identity with OsMADS6, OsMADS3, and OsMADS58, respectively. Our findings suggest that OsMADS32 is an important factor for floral meristem identity maintenance and that it integrates the action of other MADS-box homeotic proteins to sustain floral organ specification and development in rice. Given that OsMADS32 is an orphan gene and absent in eudicots, our data substantially expand our understanding of flower development in plants.

Transcriptome profiling at the transition to the reproductive stage uncovers stage and tissue-specific genes in wheat

“…Here, we provide the first evidence about the function of the TaAGL14 gene in an earlier reproductive stage in floral meristem activation in wheat, which may very likely be similar to OsMADS32 function in rice. TraesCS3B02G318300 was 4.5 fold more upregulated in "Kontrast" than in "Basalt", which is in line with the activator role of OsMADS32 in initiating the floral meristem and its role in the termination of floral meristem activity and repressing its reversion to vegetative meristem [76]. TaFT (QTL TaHd177), from Phosphatidylethanolaminebinding protein (PEBP), was exclusively detected in the DRS in leaves tissue.…”

“…The highlight result in the double ridge stage is the detection of the MADS-box transcription factor 32 in QTL TaHd054. MADSS32 wheat gene ( TraesCS3B02G318300 , SAM) is the ortholog of OsMADS32 that regulates floral patterning in rice and takes charge of floral meristem identity and initiation through interactions with multiple floral homeotic genes to sustain floral organ development [ 76 ]. BLAST results showed that the predicted protein of TraesCS3B02G318300 is identical by 99% with TaAGL14 , 98% with TaAGL15 in wheat , and 87% with OsMADS32 in rice .…”

Single-Molecule Real-Time Sequencing of Full-Length Transcriptome and Identification of Genes Related to Male Development in Cannabis sativa

“…Among these five classes, the E-class protein plays an essential role in binding the other four class proteins to regulate the development of various floral parts. In rice, the ABC(DE)-class genes are mainly composed of MADS-box gene family members, including four genes under class A, three genes under B-class, two genes under C-class, two genes under class D, and six genes under E-class [14,15]. These findings indicate that MADS-box genes play important roles in the regulation of flower development.…”

“…The family number of bHLH was the highest among the 58 categories (Figure 6). Besides, in view of the importance of MADS genes in plant floral organ development [14,15], their transcription levels were further analyzed based on the recently obtained transcriptome data of 'USO14 monoecious cultivars in our lab (unpublished). There were 47 genes encoding MADS transcription factors, of which 13 were highly expressed in male flowers (Figure 7).…”

Morphological characterization and genetic analysis of tri-pistil trait, a precisely regulated pistil number mutation in bread wheat

“…Knockout of rice AGL6-like gene (OsMADS6) and down-regulation of TaAGL6 in wheat induced the generation of pistillodies (Ohmori et al 2009;Su et al 2019). Moreover, an increased number of pistils, which had been transformed from stamens, was also observed in about 52% of the owers of the strong mutant of OsMADS32 (cfo1-1), a monocot-speci c MADS-box gene, but not in its weak mutants (Hu et al 2021;Sang et al 2012;Wang et al 2015). Apart from oral homeotic MADS-box genes, other genes play important roles in pistil emergence and development.…”