KIL transcription factors facilitate embryo growth in maize by promoting endosperm elimination via lytic cell death
2025
Doll, Nicolas, M | Fierlej, Yannick | Eekhout, Thomas | Elias, Lisa | Bellot, Clément | Sun, Geng | Grones, Carolin | Aesaert, Stijn | Coussens, Griet | de Rycke, Riet | Šimášková, Maria | Montes, Emilie | Plagnard, Chloé | Rogowsky, Peter, M | Abebaw, Yemisrach, Melkie | Bendahmane, Mohammed | de Rybel, Bert | Pauwels, Laurens | Widiez, Thomas | Nowack, Moritz, K | Reproduction et développement des plantes (RDP) ; École normale supérieure de Lyon (ENS de Lyon) ; Université de Lyon-Université de Lyon-Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL) ; Université de Lyon-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, and Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics ; Universiteit Gent = Ghent University = Université de Gand (UGENT) | Universiteit Gent = Ghent University = Université de Gand (UGENT) | Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie [Ghent, Belgique] (VIB) | Department of Plant Systems Biology ; Flanders Institute for Biotechnology | Ethiopian Biotechnology Institute, Addis Ababa | VIB [Belgium] | ANRT funding agency: CIFRE grant N° 2018/0480
International audience
اظهر المزيد [+] اقل [-]إنجليزي. Abstract The endosperm is a transient nutritive tissue in plant seeds. During maize (Zea mays) grain development, two distinct endosperm cell death processes occur: in one process, the endosperm adjacent to the embryo scutellum (EAS) is completely dismantled; in the other, the starchy endosperm (SE) retains nutrient-packed cell corpses after grain filling. Here, we show that SE cell death degrades some organelles including the mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum, while preserving protein bodies, starch granules, and chromatin. In contrast, EAS cells undergo lytic cell death to remobilize stored nutrients through a complex corpse clearance process. Using single-cell transcriptome analysis, we identified two NAC transcription factors, KIRA-LIKE 1 (KIL1) and 2 (KIL2), as specifically upregulated in the EAS. Analyses using dominant and recessive loss-of-function kil mutants demonstrate that these genes redundantly promote cell death and corpse clearance in the EAS, but are not required for SE cell death. Reduced EAS cell death in kil loss-of-function mutants strongly impeded embryo growth, indicating that EAS elimination is crucial for optimal embryo development. Notably, kil1 and kil2 expression is regulated by DOSAGE-EFFECT DEFECTIVE1, an imprinted paternally expressed endosperm transcription factor. Our findings suggest paternal control over EAS cell death and the embryo-endosperm size ratio in maize, providing new leads to modulate this agronomically important trait.
اظهر المزيد [+] اقل [-]الكلمات المفتاحية الخاصة بالمكنز الزراعي (أجروفوك)
المعلومات البيبليوغرافية
تم تزويد هذا السجل من قبل Institut national de la recherche agronomique