Gibberellins control fruit patterning in Arabidopsis thaliana.
The Arabidopsis basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins INDEHISCENT (IND) and ALCATRAZ (ALC) specify tissues required for fruit opening that have major roles in seed dispersal and plant domestication. Here, we show that synthesis of the phytohormone gibberellin is a direct and necessary target of IND, and that ALC interacts directly with DELLA repressors, which antagonize ALC function but are destabilized by gibberellin. Thus, the gibberellin/DELLA pathway has a key role in patterning the Arabidopsis fruit, and the interaction between DELLA and bHLH proteins, previously shown to connect gibberellin and light responses, is a versatile regulatory module also used in tissue patterning.
Arnaud
Nicolas
N
Cell and Developmental Biology Department, John Innes Centre, Norwich, NR4 7UH, United Kingdom.
Girin
Thomas
T
Sorefan
Karim
K
Fuentes
Sara
S
Wood
Thomas A
TA
Lawrenson
Tom
T
Sablowski
Robert
R
Østergaard
Lars
L
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005875:Gibberellins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D005875:Gibberellins; C448681:ALCATRAZ protein, Arabidopsis; C484035:INDEHISCENT protein, Arabidopsis