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Published on February 11, 2009; 10.1104/pp.108.132928

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Received December 22, 2008
Accepted January 29, 2009

Silencing the hydroxyproline-rich glycopeptide systemin precursor in two accessions of Nicotiana attenuata alters flower morphology and rates of selfpollination

Beatrice Berger and Ian T. Baldwin *

Department of Molecular Ecology Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology Beutenberg Campus Hans-Knoll Strasse 8 D-07745 Jena Germany

* Corresponding author; email: baldwin{at}ice.mpg.de.

Systemins and their hydroxyproline-rich glycopeptide systemin (ppHS) subfamily members are known to mediate anti-herbivore defenses in some solanaceous taxa but not others; functions other than in defense remain largely unexplored. Nicotiana attenuata's ppHS is known not to function in herbivore defense. NappHS transcripts are abundant in flowers, particularly in pistils and when two N. attenuata accessions from Utah and Arizona were transformed to silence NappHS by RNAi (IRsys), seed capsule production and seed number per capsule were reduced in both accessions. These reductions in reproductive performance could not be attributed to impaired pollen or ovule viability; hand-pollination of all IRsys lines of both accessions restored seed production per capsule to levels found in wild-type(WT) plants. Rather, changes in flower morphology that decreased the efficiency of self-pollination are likely responsible: IRsys plants of both accessions have flowers with pistils that protrude beyond their anthers. Because these changes in flower morphology are reminiscent of COI1 (CORONATINE-INSENSITIVE 1)-silenced N. attenuata plants, we measured jasmonates(JA) and JA-biosynthetic transcripts in different floral developmental stages, and found levels of JA-isoleucine/leucine (JA-Ile/Leu) and threonine deaminase (TD) transcripts, which are abundant in WT pistils, to be significantly reduced in IRsys buds and flowers. TD supplies isoleucine for JA-Ile biosynthesis and we propose that ppHS mediates jasmonate-signaling during flower development and thereby changes flower morphology. These results suggest that the function of ppHS family members in N. attenuata may have diversified to modulate flower morphology and thereby out-crossing rates in response to biotic or abiotic stresses.




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G. Pearce, R. Bhattacharya, Y.-C. Chen, G. Barona, Y. Yamaguchi, and C. A. Ryan
Isolation and Characterization of Hydroxyproline-Rich Glycopeptide Signals in Black Nightshade Leaves
Plant Physiology, July 1, 2009; 150(3): 1422 - 1433.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


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