title: The VASCULATURE COMPLEXITY AND CONNECTIVITY gene encodes a plant-specific protein required for embryo provasculature development.
abstract: The molecular mechanisms by which vascular tissues acquire their identities are largely unknown. Here, we report on the identification and characterization of VASCULATURE COMPLEXITY AND CONNECTIVITY (VCC), a member of a 15-member, plant-specific gene family in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) that encodes proteins of unknown function with four predicted transmembrane domains. Homozygous vcc mutants displayed cotyledon vein networks of reduced complexity and disconnected veins. Similar disconnections or gaps were observed in the provasculature of vcc embryos, indicating that defects in vein connectivity appear early in mutant embryo development. Consistently, the overexpression of VCC leads to an unusually high proportion of cotyledons with high-complexity vein networks. Neither auxin distribution nor the polar localization of the auxin efflux carrier were affected in vcc mutant embryos. Expression of VCC was detected in developing embryos and procambial, cambial, and vascular cells of cotyledons, leaves, roots, hypocotyls, and anthers. To evaluate possible genetic interactions with other genes that control vasculature patterning in embryos, we generated a double mutant for VCC and OCTOPUS (OPS). The vcc ops double mutant embryos showed a complete loss of high-complexity vascular networks in cotyledons and a drastic increase in both provascular and vascular disconnections. In addition, VCC and OPS interact physically, suggesting that VCC and OPS are part of a complex that controls cotyledon vascular complexity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.) hannetz@gmail.com otegui@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Hannetz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Roschzttardtz
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paez-Valencia
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Tejaswi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dittakavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Sathya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jali
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Francisca C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Reyes
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baisa
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anne
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gissot
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Jean-Christophe
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Palauqui
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Patrick H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Masson
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.).
authors.forename: Sebastian Y
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7465-1787
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Bednarek
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany (H.R., J.P.-V., T.D., F.C.R., M.S.O.), Department of Genetics (S.J., P.H.M., M.S.O.), and Department of Biochemistry (G.B., S.Y.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706;Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (H.R., S.J., G.B.); andInstitut National de la Recherche Agronomique and AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, Unité Mixte de Recherche 1318, Saclay Plant Science, 78000 Versailles, France (P.A., L.G., J.-C.P.) hannetz@gmail.com otegui@wisc.edu.
authors.forename: Marisa S
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4699-6950
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Otegui
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012639:Seeds / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins