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Spotting the Targets of the Apospory Controller TGS1 in Paspalum notatum

Authors :
Carolina Marta Colono
Maricel Podio
Lorena Adelina Siena
Juan Pablo A. Ortiz
Olivier Leblanc
Silvina Claudia Pessino
Source :
Plants, Vol 11, Iss 15, p 1929 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

Sexuality and apomixis are interconnected plant reproductive routes possibly behaving as polyphenic traits under the influence of the environment. In the subtropical grass Paspalum notatum, one of the controllers of apospory, a main component of gametophytic apomixis reproduction, is TRIMETHYLGUANOSINE SYNTHASE 1 (TGS1), a multifunctional gene previously associated with RNA cleavage regulation (including mRNA splicing as well as rRNA and miRNA processing), transcriptional modulation and the establishment of heterochromatin. In particular, the downregulation of TGS1 induces a sexuality decline and the emergence of aposporous-like embryo sacs. The present work was aimed at identifying TGS1 target RNAs expressed during reproductive development of Paspalum notatum. First, we mined available RNA databases originated from spikelets of sexual and apomictic plants, which naturally display a contrasting TGS1 representation, to identify differentially expressed mRNA splice variants and miRNAs. Then, the role of TGS1 in the generation of these particular molecules was investigated in antisense tgs1 sexual lines. We found that CHLOROPHYLL A-B BINDING PROTEIN 1B-21 (LHC Ib-21, a component of the chloroplast light harvesting complex), QUI-GON JINN (QGJ, encoding a MAP3K previously associated with apomixis) and miR2275 (a meiotic 24-nt phasi-RNAs producer) are directly or indirectly targeted by TGS1. Our results point to a coordinated control exercised by signal transduction and siRNA machineries to induce the transition from sexuality to apomixis.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
22237747
Volume :
11
Issue :
15
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Plants
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.6a8fa819f61d478aa7eb1841f427fffc
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11151929