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Novel spatial expression of soybean WUSCHEL in the incipient floral primordia

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Abstract

The homeobox transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS) is known to play a critical role in the maintenance of the stem cell population in shoot and floral meristems of Arabidopsis thaliana. The corresponding gene is yet to be characterized in soybean, a vital legume crop. In this study, we isolated the soybean ortholog of WUS (GmWUS) and explored its possible conserved function by in situ hybridization analysis and ectopic expression in Arabidopsis. GmWUS is expressed in the centre of soybean vegetative shoot apical meristem and floral meristem. Intriguingly, GmWUS is also found to be expressed in the incipient floral primordia before the formation of distinct floral meristem. This novel spatial expression pattern implicates GmWUS playing a role in the floral initiation process; it also raises the question of the molecular mechanism underlying the activation of GmWUS in these cells that have adopted the floral fate. Meanwhile, ectopic expression of GmWUS in Arabidopsis results in adventitious shoot and floral meristems’ formation, and the disruption in floral organ patterning. These phenotypic alterations are largely consistent with the ectopic expression of Arabidopsis WUS, indicating similar function of GmWUS with its Arabidopsis counterpart. Nevertheless, our in situ hybridization analysis has revealed its spatial expression in the incipient floral primordia indicating an additional role of GmWUS in the floral initiation process.

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Abbreviations

AM:

Axillary meristem

CLV:

CLAVATA

CZ:

Central zone

FM:

Floral meristem

Gm:

Glycine max

IM:

Inflorescence meristem

OC:

Organizing centre

SAM:

Shoot apical meristem

SD:

Short day

WOX:

WUSCHEL-related homeobox

WUS:

WUSCHEL

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Prof. Peter Gresshoff for soybean seeds and we gratefully acknowledge financial support from the University of Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant scheme and the Australian Research Council (CE0348212).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Group, ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Chui E. Wong, Soo Y. Khor, Prem L. Bhalla & Mohan B. Singh

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  1. Chui E. Wong
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  2. Soo Y. Khor
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  3. Prem L. Bhalla
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  4. Mohan B. Singh
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Correspondence to Chui E. Wong.

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Wong, C.E., Khor, S.Y., Bhalla, P.L. et al. Novel spatial expression of soybean WUSCHEL in the incipient floral primordia. Planta 233, 553–560 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1320-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-010-1320-9

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