Developmental innovation of inferior ovaries and flower sex orchestrated by KNOX1 in cucurbits

IF 15.8 1区生物学 Q1 PLANT SCIENCES

Nature Plants Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.1038/s41477-025-01950-w

Zhaonian Dong, Xiaolin Liu, Xing Guo, Xun Liu, Bowen Wang, Wenwen Shao, Caihuan Tian, Yingying Zheng, Qiong Yu, Liyuan Zhong, Jinjing Sun, Shengkang Li, Tongxu Xin, Bohan Zhang, Tao Yang, Haorong Lu, Jocelyn K. C. Rose, William J. Lucas, Xun Xu, Sanwen Huang, Huan Liu, Xueyong Yang

{"title":"Developmental innovation of inferior ovaries and flower sex orchestrated by KNOX1 in cucurbits","authors":"Zhaonian Dong, Xiaolin Liu, Xing Guo, Xun Liu, Bowen Wang, Wenwen Shao, Caihuan Tian, Yingying Zheng, Qiong Yu, Liyuan Zhong, Jinjing Sun, Shengkang Li, Tongxu Xin, Bohan Zhang, Tao Yang, Haorong Lu, Jocelyn K. C. Rose, William J. Lucas, Xun Xu, Sanwen Huang, Huan Liu, Xueyong Yang","doi":"10.1038/s41477-025-01950-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>In flowering plants, inferior ovaries are key morphological innovations that evolved multiple times from superior ovaries to protect female parts of the flower. However, the developmental mechanisms underlying inferior ovary formation remain largely unknown. Comparative spatial transcriptome mapping and cell lineage reconstructions in developing floral buds of cucumber and tomato, which have inferior and superior ovaries, respectively, revealed that inferior ovaries develop from accelerated receptacle growth resulting from the continuous activity of meristematic stems cells at the base of the cucumber floral organs. Genetic knockout of a receptacle-specific KNOX1 transcription factor in cucumber caused arrest in receptacle growth and yielded bisexual flowers with superior ovaries similar to those of tomato. Here we provide developmental and mechanistic insights into inferior ovary formation and sex determination in cucurbits.</p>","PeriodicalId":18904,"journal":{"name":"Nature Plants","volume":"75 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.8000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Plants","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-01950-w","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PLANT SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

In flowering plants, inferior ovaries are key morphological innovations that evolved multiple times from superior ovaries to protect female parts of the flower. However, the developmental mechanisms underlying inferior ovary formation remain largely unknown. Comparative spatial transcriptome mapping and cell lineage reconstructions in developing floral buds of cucumber and tomato, which have inferior and superior ovaries, respectively, revealed that inferior ovaries develop from accelerated receptacle growth resulting from the continuous activity of meristematic stems cells at the base of the cucumber floral organs. Genetic knockout of a receptacle-specific KNOX1 transcription factor in cucumber caused arrest in receptacle growth and yielded bisexual flowers with superior ovaries similar to those of tomato. Here we provide developmental and mechanistic insights into inferior ovary formation and sex determination in cucurbits.

Abstract Image

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Nature Plants PLANT SCIENCES-

CiteScore

25.30

自引率

2.20%

发文量

196

期刊介绍： Nature Plants is an online-only, monthly journal publishing the best research on plants — from their evolution, development, metabolism and environmental interactions to their societal significance.