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The basis of pod dehiscence: anatomical traits of the dehiscence zone and expression of eight pod shatter-related genes in four species of Brassicaceae

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Biologia Plantarum

Abstract

Members of the Brassicaceae family disperse their seeds through a mechanism commonly referred to as fruit dehiscence or pod shatter. Pod shatter is influenced by variations in valve margin structure and by the molecular control pathways related to valve development. Anatomical patterns of the dehiscence zone from Brassica napus L., Brassica rapa L., Brassica carinata L., and Sinapis alba L., representing fruit types differing in pod shatter resistance, were compared using histological staining. The pod shatter-susceptible plant B. napus showed an increased lignin deposition at the vascular bundle of the replum as well as an increased separation of cell layers. In pod shatter-resistant plants S. alba, B. rapa, and B. carinata, we observed two layers of lignified valve margin cells. From these four species, we isolated and identified homologs of SHATTERPROOF (SHP1, SHP2), INDEHISCENT (IND), ALCATRAZ (ALC), FRUITFULL (FUL), AGAMOUS (AG), NAC SECONDARY WALL THICKENING PROMOTING FACTOR1 (NST1), and SEEDSTICK (STK) genes involved in fruit development and pod shatter in Arabidopsis. Transcriptional analysis of these eight genes was performed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and the results demonstrate that differences in the expression patterns of the eight genes may be associated with dehiscence variation within these four species.

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Abbreviations

AG :

AGAMOUS

ALC :

ALCATRAZ

DZ:

dehiscence zone

FUL :

FRUITFULL

IND :

INDEHISCENT

NCBI:

National Center for Biotechnology Information

NST1 :

NAC SECONDARY WALL THICKENING PROMOTING FACTOR1

RT-qPCR:

real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction

SHP :

SHATTERPROOF

STK :

SEEDSTICK

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, P.R. China

    Y. Zhang, Y. Y. Shen & J. B. Wang

  2. Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Oil Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, 430062, P.R. China

    X. M. Wu

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  1. Y. Zhang
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  2. Y. Y. Shen
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  3. X. M. Wu
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  4. J. B. Wang
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Correspondence to J. B. Wang.

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Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31370258).

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Zhang, Y., Shen, Y.Y., Wu, X.M. et al. The basis of pod dehiscence: anatomical traits of the dehiscence zone and expression of eight pod shatter-related genes in four species of Brassicaceae . Biol Plant 60, 343–354 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10535-016-0599-1

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