Conserved genetic determinant of motor organ identity in Medicago truncatula and related legumes

Plants exhibit various kinds of movements that have fascinated scientists and the public for centuries. Physiological studies in plants with the so-called motor organ or pulvinus suggest that cells at opposite sides of the pulvinus mediate leaf or leaflet movements by swelling and shrinking. How mot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2012-07, Vol.109 (29), p.11723-11728
Main Authors: Chen, Jianghua, Moreau, Carol, Liu, Yu, Kawaguchi, Masayoshi, Hofer, Julie, Ellis, Noel, Chen, Rujin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alfalfa
Alleles
Base Sequence
Biological Sciences
Cells
Chromosome Mapping
Cloning
Cloning, Molecular
DNA, Complementary - genetics
Epidermal cells
Flowers & plants
Genes
Genes, Plant - genetics
Genetic mutation
Human organs
In Situ Hybridization
Legumes
Lotus corniculatus var. japonicus
Medicago truncatula
Medicago truncatula - genetics
Medicago truncatula - growth & development
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
molecular cloning
Molecular Sequence Data
Movement - physiology
mutants
Mutation
Peas
petioles
Pisum sativum
Plants
Pulvini
pulvinus
Pulvinus - genetics
Pulvinus - physiology
Pulvinus - ultrastructure
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Species Specificity
transcription factors
Transcription Factors - genetics
Transcription Factors - metabolism
Transgenic plants
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Summary:Plants exhibit various kinds of movements that have fascinated scientists and the public for centuries. Physiological studies in plants with the so-called motor organ or pulvinus suggest that cells at opposite sides of the pulvinus mediate leaf or leaflet movements by swelling and shrinking. How motor organ identity is determined is unknown. Using a genetic approach, we isolated a mutant designated elongated petiolule1 (elp1) from Medicago truncatula that fails to fold its leaflets in the dark due to loss of motor organs. Map-based cloning indicated that ELP1 encodes a putative plant-specific LOB domain transcription factor. RNA in situ analysis revealed that ELP1 is expressed in primordial cells that give rise to the motor organ. Ectopic expression of ELP1 resulted in dwarf plants with petioles and rachises reduced in length, and the epidermal cells gained characteristics of motor organ epidermal cells. By identifying ELP1 orthologs from other legume species, namely pea (Pisum sativum) and Lotus japonicus , we show that this motor organ identity is regulated by a conserved molecular mechanism.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1204566109