title: A fern AINTEGUMENTA gene mirrors BABY BOOM in promoting apogamy in Ceratopteris richardii.
abstract: Asexual reproduction is widespread in land plants, including ferns where 10% of all species are obligate asexuals. In these ferns, apogamous sporophytes are generated directly from gametophytes, bypassing fertilization. In the model fern Ceratopteris richardii, a sexual species, apogamy can be induced by culture on high sugar media. BABY BOOM (BBM) genes in angiosperms are known to promote somatic embryogenesis, which like apogamy produce sporophytes without fertilization. Here, a Brassica napus BBM (BnBBM) was used to investigate genetic similarity between apogamy in ferns and somatic embryogenesis in angiosperms. A C. richardii transcriptome was constructed from which one AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE unigene, CrANT, was identified. Whole mount in situ hybridization showed that CrANT is expressed in sperm and fertilized eggs. Phylogenetic analysis grouped CrANT with other non-seed-plant ANT genes to the euANT clade but in a branch separate from BBM genes. Overexpression of CrANT or BnBBM promotes apogamy in C. richardii without sugar supplement. CrANT knockdown gametophytes responded weakly to sugar for apogamy promotion. Theses results suggest some genetic conservation between apogamy and somatic embryogenesis and that such asexual reproduction may be ancient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Linh T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Dzevida
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pandzic
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Youngstrom
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Erin E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Irish
authors.affiliation: Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Zurich, Zurich, CH-8008, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Quartier Sorge-Batiment Genopode, Lausanne, Switzerland.|MTA ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, ELTE, Biological Institute, Budapest, Hungary.
authors.forename: Péter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szövényi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA.
authors.forename: Chi-Lien
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D029624:Ferns / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D055993:Germ Cells, Plant / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: 
  
  AINTEGUMENTA
  
  ; 
  
  BABY BOOM
  
  ; 
  Ceratopteris richardii
  ; apogamy; asexual reproduction; gametophyte transformation; somatic embryogenesis; transgenic fern