A parthenogenesis gene of apomict origin elicits embryo formation from unfertilized eggs in a sexual plant

Apomixis is a naturally occurring mode of asexual reproduction in flowering plants that results in seed formation without the involvement of meiosis or fertilization of the egg. Seeds formed on an apomictic plant contain offspring genetically identical to the maternal plant. Apomixis has significant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2015-09, Vol.112 (36), p.11205-11210
Main Authors: Conner, Joann A., Mookkan, Muruganantham, Huo, Heqiang, Chae, Keun, Ozias-Akins, Peggy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Apomixis - genetics
Biological Sciences
Cenchrus
Cenchrus - embryology
Cenchrus - growth & development
Embryos
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
Genes
Genes, Plant - genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
Ovule - embryology
Ovule - genetics
Parthenogenesis - genetics
Pennisetum
Pennisetum - embryology
Pennisetum - genetics
Phylogeny
Plant Proteins - classification
Plant Proteins - genetics
Plant reproduction
Plants, Genetically Modified
Poaceae
Poaceae - embryology
Poaceae - genetics
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA Interference
Seeds
Seeds - embryology
Seeds - genetics
Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
Transgenic plants
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Summary:Apomixis is a naturally occurring mode of asexual reproduction in flowering plants that results in seed formation without the involvement of meiosis or fertilization of the egg. Seeds formed on an apomictic plant contain offspring genetically identical to the maternal plant. Apomixis has significant potential for preserving hybrid vigor from one generation to the next in highly productive crop plant genotypes. ApomicticPennisetum/Cenchrusspecies, members of the Poaceae (grass) family, reproduce by apospory. Apospory is characterized by apomeiosis, the formation of unreduced embryo sacs derived from nucellar cells of the ovary and, by parthenogenesis, the development of the unreduced egg into an embryo without fertilization. InPennisetum squamulatum (L.) R.Br., apospory segregates as a single dominant locus, the aposporyspecific genomic region (ASGR). In this study, we demonstrate that thePsASGR-BABY BOOM-like(PsASGR-BBML) gene is expressed in egg cells before fertilization and can induce parthenogenesis and the production of haploid offspring in transgenic sexual pearl millet. A reduction ofPsASGR-BBMLexpression in apomictic F₁ RNAi transgenic plants results in fewer visible parthenogenetic embryos and a reduction of embryo cell number compared with controls. Our results endorse a key role forPsASGR-BBMLin parthenogenesis and a newly discovered role for a member of the BBM-like clade of APETALA 2 transcription factors. Induction of parthenogenesis byPsASGR-BBMLwill be valuable for installing parthenogenesis to synthesize apomixis in crops and will have further application for haploid induction to rapidly obtain homozygous lines for breeding.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1505856112