MpANT regulates meristem development in Marchantia polymorpha

• Published in: Cell reports (Cambridge) 2024-07, Vol.43 (7), p.114466, Article 114466
• Main Authors: Liu, Wu, Yang, Zhengfei, Cai, Gui, Li, Bingyu, Liu, Shujing, Willemsen, Viola, Xu, Lin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CP: Plants; euANT; Marchantia polymorpha; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; meristem; MpANT; plant evolution; PLT
• ISSN: 2211-1247; 2211-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114466

Meristems are crucial for organ formation, but our knowledge of their molecular evolution is limited. Here, we show that AINTEGUMENTA (MpANT) in the euANT branch of the APETALA2-like transcription factor family is essential for meristem development in the nonvascular plant Marchantia polymorpha. MpANT is expressed in the thallus meristem. Mpant mutants show defects to maintain meristem identity and undergo meristem duplication, while MpANT overexpressers show ectopic thallus growth. MpANT directly upregulates MpGRAS9 in the SHORT-ROOT (SHR) branch of the GRAS family. In the vascular plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the euANT-branch genes PLETHORAs (AtPLTs) and AtANT are involved in the formation and maintenance of root/shoot apical meristems and lateral organ primordia, and AtPLTs directly target SHR-branch genes. In addition, euANTs bind through a similar DNA-binding motif to many conserved homologous genes in M. polymorpha and A. thaliana. Overall, the euANT pathway has an evolutionarily conserved role in meristem development. [Display omitted] •The euANT-branch gene MpANT is expressed in the meristems of Marchantia•MpANT regulates meristem development and directly upregulates MpGRAS9•MpANT rescues rooting defects caused by mutations in AtPLT3/5/7 in Arabidopsis•euANTs bind to a conserved motif in homologous genes in Marchantia and Arabidopsis Meristems are the center from which plant organs form. Liu et al. show that the euANT-branch gene MpANT is expressed in the meristem and regulates its development in Marchantia polymorpha. The euANT-branch transcription factors share evolutionarily conserved roles in nonvascular plants and vascular plants.