Fruit initiation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is generally repressed until fertilization occurs. However, mutations in AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR8 (ARF8) uncouple fruit initiation from fertilization, resulting in the formation of seedless, parthenocarpic fruit. Here we induced parthenocarpy in wild-type Arabidopsis by introducing either the mutant genomic (g) Atarf8-4 sequence or gAtARF8:b-glucuronidase translational fusion constructs by plant transformation. Silencing of endogenous AtARF8 transcription was not observed, indicating that the introduced, aberrant ARF8 transcripts were compromising the function of endogenous ARF8 and/or associated factors involved in suppressing fruit initiation. To analyze the role of ARF8 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) we initially emasculated 23 tomato cultivars to test for background parthenocarpy. Surprisingly, all had a predisposition to initiate fertilization-independent fruit growth. Expression of gAtarf8-4 in transgenic tomato ('Monalbo') resulted in a significant increase in the number and size of parthenocarpic fruit. Isolation of tomato ARF8 cDNA indicated significant sequence conservation with AtARF8. SlARF8 may therefore control tomato fruit initiation in a similar manner as AtARF8 does in Arabidopsis. Two SlARF8 cDNAs differing in size by 5 bp were found, both arising from the same gene. The smaller cDNA is a splice variant and is also present in Arabidopsis. We propose that low endogenous levels of the splice variant products might interfere with efficient formation/function of a complex repressing fruit initiation, thereby providing an explanation for the observed ovary expansion in tomato and also Arabidopsis after emasculation. Increasing the levels of aberrant Atarf8-4 transcripts may further destabilize formation/function of the complex in a dosage-dependent manner enhancing tomato parthenocarpic fruit initiation frequency and size and mimicking the parthenocarpic dehiscent silique phenotype found in homozygous Atarf8-4 mutants. Collectively these data suggest that similar mechanisms involving auxin signaling exist to inhibit parthenocarpic fruit set in tomato and Arabidopsis.
SUMMARYAsexual seed formation, or apomixis, in the Hieracium subgenus Pilosella is controlled by two dominant independent genetic loci, LOSS OF APOMEIOSIS (LOA) and LOSS OF PARTHENOGENESIS (LOP). We examined apomixis mutants that had lost function in one or both loci to establish their developmental roles during seed formation. In apomicts, sexual reproduction is initiated first. Somatic aposporous initial (AI) cells differentiate near meiotic cells, and the sexual pathway is terminated as AI cells undergo mitotic embryo sac formation. Seed initiation is fertilization-independent. Using a partially penetrant cytotoxic reporter to inhibit meioisis, we showed that developmental events leading to the completion of meiotic tetrad formation are required for AI cell formation. Sexual initiation may therefore stimulate activity of the LOA locus, which was found to be required for AI cell formation and subsequent suppression of the sexual pathway. AI cells undergo nuclear division to form embryo sacs, in which LOP functions gametophytically to stimulate fertilizationindependent embryo and endosperm formation. Loss of function in either locus results in partial reversion to sexual reproduction, and loss of function in both loci results in total reversion to sexual reproduction. Therefore, in these apomicts, sexual reproduction is the default reproductive mode upon which apomixis is superimposed. These loci are unlikely to encode genes essential for sexual reproduction, but may function to recruit the sexual machinery at specific time points to enable apomixis.
Hieracium praealtum forms seeds asexually by apomixis. During ovule development, sexual reproduction initiates with megaspore mother cell entry into meiosis and formation of a tetrad of haploid megaspores. The sexual pathway ceases when a diploid aposporous initial (AI) cell differentiates, enlarges, and undergoes mitosis, forming an aposporous embryo sac that displaces sexual structures. Embryo and endosperm development in aposporous embryo sacs is fertilization independent. Transcriptional data relating to apomixis initiation in Hieracium spp. ovules is scarce and the functional identity of the AI cell relative to other ovule cell types is unclear. Enlarging AI cells with undivided nuclei, early aposporous embryo sacs containing two to four nuclei, and random groups of sporophytic ovule cells not undergoing these events were collected by laser capture microdissection. Isolated amplified messenger RNA samples were sequenced using the 454 pyrosequencing platform and comparatively analyzed to establish indicative roles of the captured cell types. Transcriptome and protein motif analyses showed that approximately one-half of the assembled contigs identified homologous sequences in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), of which the vast majority were expressed during early Arabidopsis ovule development. The sporophytic ovule cells were enriched in signaling functions. Gene expression indicative of meiosis was notably absent in enlarging AI cells, consistent with subsequent aposporous embryo sac formation without meiosis. The AI cell transcriptome was most similar to the early aposporous embryo sac transcriptome when comparing known functional annotations and both shared expressed genes involved in gametophyte development, suggesting that the enlarging AI cell is already transitioning to an embryo sac program prior to mitotic division.
The isolation of genes associated with apomixis would improve understanding of the molecular mechanism of this mode of reproduction in plants as well as open the possibility of transfer of apomixis to sexual plants, enabling cloning of crops through seeds. Brachiaria brizantha is a highly apomictic grass species with 274 tetraploid apomicts accessions and only one diploid sexual. In this study we have compared gene expression in ovaries at megasporogenesis and megagametogenesis of sexual and apomictic accessions of B. brizantha by differential display (DD-PCR), with 60 primer combinations. Specificity of 65 cloned fragments, checked by reverse northern blot analysis, showed that 11 clones were differentially expressed, 6 in apomictic ovaries, 2 in sexual and 3 in apomictic and sexual, but at different stages. Of the 6 sequences isolated that were preferentially expressed in the apomictic accession: one sequence was from ovaries at megasporogenesis stage; three were from megagametogenesis stage; two were from both stages. Of the two sequences isolated from the sexual accessions, one showed expression in ovaries at megagametogenesis, while the other sequence was shown to be specific to both stages. Three sequences were from megasporogenesis stage in apomicts but were also detected at megagametogenesis in sexual plants. Sequence analysis showed that 5 of the 11 clones had no apparent homologues in the protein database. Some of the clones identified as apomictic-specific shared homology with known genes enabling their functional annotation. The relationships of these functions to the generation of the apomictic trait are discussed.
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