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AUX1, PIN3, and TAA1 collectively maintain fertility in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

Main conclusion

We found that auxin synthesis gene TAA1 and auxin polar transport genes AUX1 and PIN3 collectively maintain fertility and seed size in Arabidopsis.

Abstract

Auxin plays a vital role in plant gametophyte development and embryogenesis. The auxin synthesis gene TAA1 and the auxin polar transport genes AUX1 and PIN3 are expressed during Arabidopsis gametophyte and seed development. However, aux1, pin3, and taa1 single mutants only exhibit mild reproductive defects. We, therefore, generated aux1-T pin3 taa1-k2 and aux1-T pin3-2 taa1-k1 triple mutants by crossing or CRISPR/Cas9 technique. These triple mutants displayed severe reproductive defects with approximately 70% and 77%, respectively, of the siliques failing to elongate after anthesis. Reciprocal crosses and microscopy analyses showed that the development of pollen and ovules in the aux1 pin3 taa1 mutants was normal, whereas the filaments were remarkably short, which might be the cause of the silique sterility. Further analyses indicated that the development and morphology of aux1 pin3 taa1 seeds were normal, but their size was smaller compared with that of the wild type. These results indicate that AUX1, PIN3, and TAA1 act in concert to maintain fertility and seed size in Arabidopsis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Qi-Jun Chen for providing the CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31870230, 32070281, and 91417308 to S.M.).

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  1. Chao Tan, Mengxiao Liang and Qiong Luo have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China

    Chao Tan, Mengxiao Liang, Qiong Luo, Tan Zhang, Wenhui Wang, Suxin Li & Shuzhen Men

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  1. Chao Tan
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  2. Mengxiao Liang
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Correspondence to Shuzhen Men.

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Tan, C., Liang, M., Luo, Q. et al. AUX1, PIN3, and TAA1 collectively maintain fertility in Arabidopsis. Planta 258, 68 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-023-04219-8

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