PXL1 and SERKs act as receptor–coreceptor complexes for the CLE19 peptide to regulate pollen development

• Published in: Nature communications 2023-06, Vol.14 (1), p.3307-3307, Article 3307
• Main Authors: Yu, Ying, Song, Wen, Zhai, Nuo, Zhang, Shiting, Wang, Jianzheng, Wang, Shuangshuang, Liu, Weijia, Huang, Chien-Hsun, Ma, Hong, Chai, Jijie, Chang, Fang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 14; 14/19; 14/34; 631/449/1741; 631/449/2675; 631/449/2679/1743; Angiosperms; Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Diploids; Embryonic growth stage; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene regulation; Humanities and Social Sciences; Kinases; multidisciplinary; Peptides; Peptides - genetics; Peptides - metabolism; Phosphorylation; Pollen; Pollen - metabolism; Receptors; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Somatic embryogenesis; Transcription
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39074-4

Gametophyte development in angiosperms occurs within diploid sporophytic structures and requires coordinated development; e.g., development of the male gametophyte pollen depends on the surrounding sporophytic tissue, the tapetum. The mechanisms underlying this interaction remain poorly characterized. The peptide CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-RELATED 19 (CLE19) plays a “braking” role in preventing the harmful overexpression of tapetum transcriptional regulators to ensure normal pollen development in Arabidopsis . However, the CLE19 receptor is unknown. Here, we show that CLE19 interacts directly with the PXY-LIKE1 (PXL1) ectodomain and induces PXL1 phosphorylation. PXL1 is also required for the function of CLE19 in maintaining the tapetal transcriptional regulation of pollen exine genes. Additionally, CLE19 induces the interactions of PXL1 with SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) coreceptors required for pollen development. We propose that PXL1 and SERKs act as receptor and coreceptor, respectively, of the extracellular CLE19 signal, thereby regulating tapetum gene expression and pollen development. CLE19 is a secreted peptide required for pollen development and other processes in Arabidopsis. Here the authors show that PXL1 and SERKs act as receptors and co-receptors for CLE19 and regulate tapetum transcriptional networks that promote pollen development.