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Strawberry MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 regulates seed germination and post-germination growth through integrating GA and ABA signaling in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

The phytohormones gibberellic acid (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) are known to play antagonistic roles in the control of seed germination and seedling establishment. Here, the regulatory roles of woodland strawberry MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (FvMFT) involved in GA and ABA signaling were investigated. FvMFT, which encodes a phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein, was predominantly expressed in young strawberry fruits. Transient over-expression of FvMFT repressed the expression of several DELLA genes in strawberry fruits. Ectopic over-expression of FvMFT in Arabidopsis thaliana markedly altered the expression levels of ABA-INSENSITIVE (ABI) and DELLA genes, which is accompanied by partially restoring the impaired post-germination growth when the seeds were germinated on sugar-free medium. The same transgenic Arabidopsis plants also exhibited hypersensitivity to GA3 and ABA treatments during seed germination and post-germination growth. In addition, the fluorescence-tagged FvMFT proteins exhibited intriguing subcellular localizations in integument cells and endosperm cells of transgenic Arabidopsis. Taken together, our results support the notion that FvMFT could act as a dual regulator of seed germination and post-germination growth in response to GA and ABA signaling in plants.

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Abbreviations

ABA:

Abscisic acid

DAI:

Days after imbibition

DAP:

Days after pollination

GA:

Gibberellic acid

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

IAA:

Indole-3-acetic acid

MFT:

MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1

MS:

Murashige and Skoog

YFP:

Yellow fluorescent protein

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31201657), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (QN2013019, 2452015287), and the Shaanxi province science and technology research and development program (2014K02-02-02).

Author contributions

J.-Y. F. conceived the research. Y. H. performed all treatments with assistance of Y.-R. G., W. W., and K. Z. Y. H. and J.-Y. F. analyzed and interpreted the data. Y. H. wrote the manuscript and J.-Y. F. revised it. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Yang Hu, Wei Wei, Kai Zhang & Jia-Yue Feng

  2. Key Laboratory of Protected Horticulture Engineering in Northwest China, Ministry of Agriculture, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Yang Hu, Yu-Rong Gao, Wei Wei, Kai Zhang & Jia-Yue Feng

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  1. Yang Hu
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  2. Yu-Rong Gao
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  3. Wei Wei
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jia-Yue Feng.

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All these authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Figure 1

Over-expression of FvMFT-YFP altered the germination potential of transgenic Arabidopsis seeds in response to phytohormones and salt treatments. (A) The sucrose supply (3 %, m/v) could ameliorate the effects of ABA on the seed germination potential. (B) The addition of 40 μM GA3 and IAA could ameliorate the effects of ABA on the seed germination potential. (C) Treatment with 150 mM NaCl significantly arrested germination in the transgenic lines. (JPEG 5065 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

Over-expression of FvMFT-YFP and YFP showed different distribution of YFP signal in transgenic Arabidopsis lines. (A) Over-expression of FvMFT-YFP clearly displayed aggregates of YFP signal in Arabidopsis developing seeds and vegetative tissues. TEM (Torpedo-shape embryo), I (integument cells), OI (outer integument cells), II (inner integument cells), SE (sieve element), PAZ (pedicel abscission zones), and PVB (placenta vascular bundle). (B) Ectopically expressed YFP equally distributed in Arabidopsis developing seeds and vegetative tissues. a, a young silique (2 DAP); b, developing seeds in a silique (5 DAP); c, developing seeds (5 DAP); d, integument cells (5 DAP); e, roots; f, carpopodium and silique; g, leaf epidermis cells. Bright field images are shown on the left, and the corresponding green fluorescence images are shown on the right. Yellow arrows denote fusion protein aggregates in the membrane. Bars = 50 μm. (JPEG 8957 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

The primers used in this study. (DOC 73 kb)

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Hu, Y., Gao, YR., Wei, W. et al. Strawberry MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 regulates seed germination and post-germination growth through integrating GA and ABA signaling in Arabidopsis . Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 126, 343–352 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-016-1002-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-016-1002-9

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