Clearance of maternal barriers by paternal miR159 to initiate endosperm nuclear division in Arabidopsis. Issue 1 (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Youshang; Wang, Songyun; Wu, Wenye; Li, Lei; Jiang, Ting; Zheng, Binglian
• Is Part Of: Nature communications. Volume 9:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 11
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Biology -- Periodicals; Physical sciences -- Periodicals; 505
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07429-x
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2041-1723

Abstract

Abstract Sperm entry triggers central cell division during seed development, but what factors besides the genome are inherited from sperm, and the mechanism by which paternal factors regulate early division events, are not understood. Here we show that sperm-transmitted miR159 promotes endosperm nuclear division by repressing central cell-transmitted miR159 targets. Disruption of paternal miR159 causes approximately half of the seeds to abort as a result of defective endosperm nuclear divisions. In wild-type plants, MYB33 andMYB65, two miR159 targets, are highly expressed in the central cell before fertilization, but both are rapidly abolished after fertilization. In contrast, loss of paternal miR159 leads to retention of MYB33 and MYB65 in the central cell after fertilization. Furthermore, ectopic expression of a miR159-resistant version ofMYB33 (mMYB33) in the endosperm significantly inhibits initiation of endosperm nuclear division. Collectively, these results show that paternal miR159 inhibits its maternal targets to promote endosperm nuclear division, thus uncovering a previously unknown paternal effect on seed development. Seed development in plants is triggered by entry of sperm to the ovule. Here, Zhaoet al . uncover miR159 as a paternal-trigger of seed development that is transmitted to the central cell where it represses expression of maternal targets to promote nuclear division in the endosperm.