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Arabidopsis thaliana gonidialess A/Zuotin related factors (GlsA/ZRF) are essential for maintenance of meristem integrity

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Abstract

Observation of a differential expression pattern, including strong expression in meristematic tissue of an Agave tequilana GlsA/ZRF ortholog suggested an important role for this gene during bulbil formation and developmental changes in this species. In order to better understand this role, the two GlsA/ZFR orthologs present in the genome of Arabidopsis thaliana were functionally characterized by analyzing expression patterns, double mutant phenotypes, promoter-GUS fusions and expression of hormone related or meristem marker genes. Patterns of expression for A. thaliana show that GlsA/ZFR genes are strongly expressed in SAMs and RAMs in mature plants and developing embryos and double mutants showed multiple changes in morphology related to both SAM and RAM tissues. Typical double mutants showed stunted growth of aerial and root tissue, formation of multiple ectopic meristems and effects on cotyledons, leaves and flowers. The KNOX genes STM and BP were overexpressed in double mutants whereas CLV3, WUSCHEL and AS1 were repressed and lack of AtGlsA expression was also associated with changes in localization of auxin and cytokinin. These results suggest that GlsA/ZFR is an essential component of the machinery that maintains the integrity of SAM and RAM tissue and underline the potential to identify new genes or gene functions based on observations in non-model plants.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to Sarah Hake for critical reading of the manuscript and provision of experimental assistance and material in histological experiments. The STM::GUS line was kindly provided by Stewart Gillmor (Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad LANGEBIO, CINVESTAV Irapuato). We also acknowledge the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center and Marcos Castellanos (Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre, University of Nottingham, Loughborough, UK) for provision of mutant seeds. J. A. G. L. and P. L. S. were supported by Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT) fellowships (numbers 219888, and 219883, respectively). This work was carried out with financial support from CONACyT Grant No. 132160. We are grateful to Katia Gil Vega for technical assistance.

Author Contributions

J A. G. L. carried out the experiments, wrote and revised the paper, M. J. A. J. helped with the experiments and revised the paper, P. L. S. performed the analysis of SEM and revised the paper, S. D. F. coordinated the microscopic analysis of SEM and revised the paper, J. S. designed and coordinated the study and wrote and revised the paper. All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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  1. María Jazmín Abraham-Juárez

    Present address: Plant Gene Expression Center, USDA-ARS, UC Berkeley, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA, 94710, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Genetic Engineering, CINVESTAV Unidad Irapuato, Km. 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apdo. Postal 629, 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    José Alfredo Guzmán-López, María Jazmín Abraham-Juárez & June Simpson

  2. Laboratorio Nacional de Genómica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO), CINVESTAV Irapuato, Km. 9.6 Libramiento Norte Carretera Irapuato-León, Apdo. Postal 629, 36821, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Paulina Lozano-Sotomayor & Stefan de Folter

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  1. José Alfredo Guzmán-López
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Correspondence to June Simpson.

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Guzmán-López, J.A., Abraham-Juárez, M.J., Lozano-Sotomayor, P. et al. Arabidopsis thaliana gonidialess A/Zuotin related factors (GlsA/ZRF) are essential for maintenance of meristem integrity. Plant Mol Biol 91, 37–51 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-016-0439-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-016-0439-x

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