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AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 can functionally replace AINTEGUMENTA but alters Arabidopsis flower development when misexpressed at high levels

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Expression differences underlie the functional differences between two related transcription factors: AINTEGUMENTA and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6. Ectopic expression of AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 at high levels alters floral organ initiation, growth and identity specification.

Abstract

AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 (AIL6) encode related transcription factors with partially overlapping roles in floral organ development in Arabidopsis thaliana. To investigate whether the functional differences between ANT and AIL6 are a consequence of differences in gene expression and/or protein activity, we made transgenic plants in which a genomic copy of AIL6 was expressed under the control of the ANT promoter. ANT:gAIL6 can rescue the floral organ size defects of ant mutants when AIL6 is expressed at similar levels as ANT in wild type. Thus, the functional differences between ANT and AIL6 result primarily from gene expression differences. However, lines that express AIL6 at higher levels display additional phenotypes that include reduced numbers of floral organs and the production of mosaic floral organs. These phenotypes were also observed in two different inducible AIL6 transgenic lines but not in 35S:ANT, suggesting that AIL6 protein may have activities distinct from ANT, although the in vivo relevance of such differences is not clear. Similar to 35S:ANT plants, overexpression of AIL6 in the inducible lines also results in the production of larger flowers. The distinct phenotypes resulting from AIL6 misexpression in the transgenic lines described here and those previously characterized appear to result from different levels and patterns of AIL6 expression.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Syngenta for the ALC switch plasmids (pJH0022 and pACN), Soumitra Ghoshroy and the Electron Microscopy Center staff for advice on the use of the SEM, and Jeff Twiss for use of the Leica TCS SP8X confocal microscope. This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants IOS 0922367 and 1354452.

Author contributions

BK conceived the study. HH and BK designed experiments, performed experiments and analyzed data. BK wrote the paper.

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Han Han & Beth A. Krizek

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  1. Han Han
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  2. Beth A. Krizek
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Correspondence to Beth A. Krizek.

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Han, H., Krizek, B.A. AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 can functionally replace AINTEGUMENTA but alters Arabidopsis flower development when misexpressed at high levels. Plant Mol Biol 92, 597–612 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-016-0535-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-016-0535-y

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