Characterization of MORE AXILLARY GROWTH genes in Populus

Olaf Czarnecki; Jun Yang; Xiaoping Wang; Shucai Wang; Wellington Muchero; Gerald A Tuskan; Jin-Gui Chen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102757

Characterization of MORE AXILLARY GROWTH genes in Populus

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 18;9(7):e102757. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102757. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Olaf Czarnecki¹, Jun Yang², Xiaoping Wang³, Shucai Wang⁴, Wellington Muchero¹, Gerald A Tuskan¹, Jin-Gui Chen¹

Affiliations

¹ Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America.
² Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America; National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
³ Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States of America; Key Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of MOE, Institute of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of MOE, Institute of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.

Abstract

Background: Strigolactones are a new class of plant hormones that play a key role in regulating shoot branching. Studies of branching mutants in Arabidopsis, pea, rice and petunia have identified several key genes involved in strigolactone biosynthesis or signaling pathway. In the model plant Arabidopsis, MORE AXILLARY GROWTH1 (MAX1), MAX2, MAX3 and MAX4 are four founding members of strigolactone pathway genes. However, little is known about the strigolactone pathway genes in the woody perennial plants.

Methodology/principal finding: Here we report the identification of MAX homologues in the woody model plant Populus trichocarpa. We identified the sequence homologues for each MAX protein in P. trichocarpa. Gene expression analysis revealed that Populus MAX paralogous genes are differentially expressed across various tissues and organs. Furthermore, we showed that Populus MAX genes could complement or partially complement the shoot branching phenotypes of the corresponding Arabidopsis max mutants.

Conclusion/significance: This study provides genetic evidence that strigolactone pathway genes are likely conserved in the woody perennial plants and lays a foundation for further characterization of strigolactone pathway and its functions in the woody perennial plants.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / genetics
Lactones / metabolism
Petunia / genetics
Phenotype
Plant Growth Regulators / genetics*
Plant Growth Regulators / metabolism
Plant Proteins / genetics*
Plant Shoots / genetics
Plant Shoots / metabolism
Populus / genetics*
Populus / metabolism
Signal Transduction / genetics*

Substances

Lactones
Plant Growth Regulators
Plant Proteins

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Plant-Microbe Interfaces Scientific Focus Area (http://pmi.ornl.gov:8080/pmi/index.jsp) in the Genomic Science Program, United States Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (http://science.energy.gov/ber/). Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. The early phase of this work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (Seed Money Fund) of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (http://www.ornl.gov/). J.Y. was partially supported by a visiting scholarship from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (http://english.cas.cn/) (grant number: 201019). X.W. was partially supported by a visiting scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (http://en.csc.edu.cn/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.