Abstract
Tomato is an important crop and hence there is a great interest in understanding the genetic basis of its flowering. Several genes have been identified by mutations and we constructed a set of novel double mutants to understand how these genes interact to shape the inflorescence. It was previously suggested that the branching of the tomato inflorescence depends on the gradual transition from inflorescence meristem (IM) to flower meristem (FM): the extension of this time window allows IM to branch, as seen in the compound inflorescence (s) and falsiflora (fa) mutants that are impaired in FM maturation. We report here that Jointless (J), which encodes a MADS-box protein of the same clade than Short Vegetative Phase (SVP) and Agamous Like 24 (AGL24) in Arabidopsis, interferes with this timing and delays FM maturation, therefore promoting IM fate. This was inferred from the fact that j mutation suppresses the high branching inflorescence phenotype of s and fa mutants and was further supported by the expression pattern of J, which is expressed more strongly in IM than in FM. Most interestingly, FA--the orthologue of the Arabidopsis LEAFY (LFY) gene--shows the complementary expression pattern and is more active in FM than in IM. Loss of J function causes premature termination of flower formation in the inflorescence and its reversion to a vegetative program. This phenotype is enhanced in the absence of systemic florigenic protein, encoded by the Single Flower Truss (SFT) gene, the tomato orthologue of Flowering Locus T (FT). These results suggest that the formation of an inflorescence in tomato requires the interaction of J and a target of SFT in the meristem, for repressing FA activity and FM fate in the IM.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
J delays floral meristem maturation and promotes inflorescence meristem fate.
- Taxon
- Tomato
Solanum lycopersicumt0 - Gene
- Jointless (J)e0
- Outcome
- FM maturatione0
- Direction
- delayse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Jointless (J), which encodes a MADS-box protein of the same clade than Short Vegetative Phase (SVP) and Agamous Like 24 (AGL24) in Arabidopsis, interferes with this timing and delays FM maturation, therefore promoting IM fate”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
j mutation suppresses high branching in s and fa mutants.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume1
- Material
- s and fa mutantse0
- Gene
- je0
- Outcome
- high branching inflorescence phenotypee0
- Direction
- suppressese0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“j mutation suppresses the high branching inflorescence phenotype of s and fa mutants”
e1“tomato inflorescence”
Claim · model-written summary
J expression is stronger in inflorescence than floral meristems.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Organ / stage
- IMe0
- Gene
- Je0
- Outcome
- expressede0
- Direction
- more stronglye0
- Comparator
- FMe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“J, which is expressed more strongly in IM than in FM”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
FA activity is higher in floral than inflorescence meristems.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Organ / stage
- FMe0
- Gene
- FAe0
- Outcome
- activee0
- Direction
- more activee0
- Comparator
- IMe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“FA--the orthologue of the Arabidopsis LEAFY (LFY) gene--shows the complementary expression pattern and is more active in FM than in IM”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Loss of J prematurely terminates flower formation and reverts the inflorescence to a vegetative program.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Gene
- Je0
- Outcome
- premature termination of flower formation in the inflorescence and its reversion to a vegetative programe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Loss of J function causes premature termination of flower formation in the inflorescence and its reversion to a vegetative program”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
Absence of SFT enhances the loss-of-J phenotype.
- Taxon
- TomatoSolanum lycopersicumt0
- Gene
- Single Flower Truss (SFT)e0
- Outcome
- This phenotypee0
- Direction
- enhancede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This phenotype is enhanced in the absence of systemic florigenic protein, encoded by the Single Flower Truss (SFT) gene”
t0“Tomato”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors infer that J and an SFT target repress FA activity and floral meristem fate in inflorescence meristems.
- Taxon
- tomatoSolanum lycopersicume0
- Gene
- Je0
- Outcome
- FA activity and FM fatee0
- Direction
- repressinge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the formation of an inflorescence in tomato requires the interaction of J and a target of SFT in the meristem, for repressing FA activity and FM fate in the IM”