Abstract
Plant life cycles alternate between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes. While regulatory factors determining male and female sexual morphologies have been identified for sporophytic reproductive organs, such as stamens and pistils of angiosperms, those regulating sex-specific traits in the haploid gametophytes that produce male and female gametes and hence are central to plant sexual reproduction are poorly understood. Here, we identified a MYB-type transcription factor, MpFGMYB, as a key regulator of female sexual differentiation in the haploid-dominant dioicous liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha. MpFGMYB is specifically expressed in females and its loss resulted in female-to-male sex conversion. Strikingly, MpFGMYB expression is suppressed in males by a cis-acting antisense gene SUF at the same locus, and loss-of-function suf mutations resulted in male-to-female sex conversion. Thus, the bidirectional transcription module at the MpFGMYB/SUF locus acts as a toggle between female and male sexual differentiation in M. polymorpha gametophytes. Arabidopsis thaliana MpFGMYB orthologs are known to be expressed in embryo sacs and promote their development. Thus, phylogenetically related MYB transcription factors regulate female gametophyte development across land plants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e100240 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | EMBO Journal |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Mar 2019 |
Keywords
- antisense transcription
- lncRNA
- Marchantia polymorpha
- R2R3 MYB-type transcription factor
- sexual differentiation
Cite this
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A cis-acting bidirectional transcription switch controls sexual dimorphism in the liverwort. / Hisanaga, Tetsuya; Okahashi, Keitaro; Yamaoka, Shohei; Kajiwara, Tomoaki; Nishihama, Ryuichi; Shimamura, Masaki; Yamato, Katsuyuki T.; Bowman, John L.; Kohchi, Takayuki; Nakajima, Keiji.
In: EMBO Journal, Vol. 38, No. 6, e100240, 15.03.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - A cis-acting bidirectional transcription switch controls sexual dimorphism in the liverwort
AU - Hisanaga, Tetsuya
AU - Okahashi, Keitaro
AU - Yamaoka, Shohei
AU - Kajiwara, Tomoaki
AU - Nishihama, Ryuichi
AU - Shimamura, Masaki
AU - Yamato, Katsuyuki T.
AU - Bowman, John L.
AU - Kohchi, Takayuki
AU - Nakajima, Keiji
PY - 2019/3/15
Y1 - 2019/3/15
N2 - Plant life cycles alternate between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes. While regulatory factors determining male and female sexual morphologies have been identified for sporophytic reproductive organs, such as stamens and pistils of angiosperms, those regulating sex-specific traits in the haploid gametophytes that produce male and female gametes and hence are central to plant sexual reproduction are poorly understood. Here, we identified a MYB-type transcription factor, MpFGMYB, as a key regulator of female sexual differentiation in the haploid-dominant dioicous liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha. MpFGMYB is specifically expressed in females and its loss resulted in female-to-male sex conversion. Strikingly, MpFGMYB expression is suppressed in males by a cis-acting antisense gene SUF at the same locus, and loss-of-function suf mutations resulted in male-to-female sex conversion. Thus, the bidirectional transcription module at the MpFGMYB/SUF locus acts as a toggle between female and male sexual differentiation in M. polymorpha gametophytes. Arabidopsis thaliana MpFGMYB orthologs are known to be expressed in embryo sacs and promote their development. Thus, phylogenetically related MYB transcription factors regulate female gametophyte development across land plants.
AB - Plant life cycles alternate between haploid gametophytes and diploid sporophytes. While regulatory factors determining male and female sexual morphologies have been identified for sporophytic reproductive organs, such as stamens and pistils of angiosperms, those regulating sex-specific traits in the haploid gametophytes that produce male and female gametes and hence are central to plant sexual reproduction are poorly understood. Here, we identified a MYB-type transcription factor, MpFGMYB, as a key regulator of female sexual differentiation in the haploid-dominant dioicous liverwort, Marchantia polymorpha. MpFGMYB is specifically expressed in females and its loss resulted in female-to-male sex conversion. Strikingly, MpFGMYB expression is suppressed in males by a cis-acting antisense gene SUF at the same locus, and loss-of-function suf mutations resulted in male-to-female sex conversion. Thus, the bidirectional transcription module at the MpFGMYB/SUF locus acts as a toggle between female and male sexual differentiation in M. polymorpha gametophytes. Arabidopsis thaliana MpFGMYB orthologs are known to be expressed in embryo sacs and promote their development. Thus, phylogenetically related MYB transcription factors regulate female gametophyte development across land plants.
KW - antisense transcription
KW - lncRNA
KW - Marchantia polymorpha
KW - R2R3 MYB-type transcription factor
KW - sexual differentiation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059551899&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.15252/embj.2018100240
DO - 10.15252/embj.2018100240
M3 - Article
VL - 38
JO - EMBO Journal
JF - EMBO Journal
SN - 0261-4189
IS - 6
M1 - e100240
ER -