A Novel Imprinted Gene NUWA Controls Mitochondrial Function in Early Seed Development in Arabidopsis.
A Novel Imprinted Gene NUWA Controls Mitochondrial Function in Early Seed Development in Arabidopsis.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pgen.1006553
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发表时间：
2017-01
期刊：
影响因子：
4.5
通讯作者：
Qu LJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
He S;Sun Y;Yang Q;Zhang X;Huang Q;Zhao P;Sun M;Liu J;Qian W;Qin G;Gu H;Qu LJ
印迹基因表现出父系和母系等位基因的偏向表达，只在哺乳动物和开花植物中发现。与哺乳动物中数百个具有功能特征的印记基因相比，在植物中证实的印记基因很少，对其进行功能研究的更少。在这里，我们报告了一种新的印记基因，Nuwa，在植物中。Nuwa是一个必需基因，因为其功能的丧失导致了通过雌配子体的传递减少，以及拟南芥早期胚胎和胚乳中存在缺陷的细胞/核增殖。Nuwa是一个母性表达的印迹基因，受精后只有Nuwa的母性等位基因从配子发生到16-细胞球胚阶段被转录和翻译，而Nuwa的母性等位基因的从头转录从受精卵开始。与其他已鉴定的植物印迹基因不同，Nuwa蛋白主要定位于线粒体，是线粒体功能所必需的。我们的工作发现了一种新的印记基因，这是一种以前未确定的类型，即母体特异表达的核基因，其编码蛋白定位于母系遗传的线粒体并控制其功能。这揭示了母体控制线粒体的独特机制，并为植物早期发育过程中核-细胞器协调的调节增加了额外的复杂性。印记基因只在哺乳动物和开花植物中发现，它们的表达具有亲本特有的模式。与哺乳动物不同，在植物中只有几个印记基因被发现并具有功能特征，而且几乎所有的印记基因都编码核蛋白。在此，我们鉴定了Nuwa是拟南芥中一种新的印记基因。Nuwa具有母系特异性表达，控制拟南芥种子的早期发育，其编码蛋白定位于母系遗传的线粒体并在其中发挥作用。女巫的发现揭示了母体控制线粒体功能的独特机制，并为核-细胞器协调增加了额外的一层复杂性。这进一步表明，与哺乳动物类似，植物中的印记基因也参与了各种亚细胞生物学过程。
Imprinted genes display biased expression of paternal and maternal alleles and are only found in mammals and flowering plants. Compared to several hundred imprinted genes that are functionally characterized in mammals, very few imprinted genes were confirmed in plants and even fewer of them have been functionally investigated. Here, we report a new imprinted gene, NUWA, in plants. NUWA is an essential gene, because loss of its function resulted in reduced transmission through the female gametophyte and defective cell/nuclear proliferation in early Arabidopsis embryo and endosperm. NUWA is a maternally expressed imprinted gene, as only the maternal allele of NUWA is transcribed and translated from gametogenesis to the 16-cell globular embryo stage after fertilization, and the de novo transcription of the maternal allele of NUWA starts from the zygote stage. Different from other identified plant imprinted genes whose encoded proteins are mostly localized to the nucleus, the NUWA protein was localized to the mitochondria and was essential for mitochondria function. Our work uncovers a novel imprinted gene of a previously unidentified type, namely, a maternal-specific expressed nuclear gene with its encoded protein localizing to and controlling the function of the maternally inherited mitochondria. This reveals a unique mechanism of maternal control of the mitochondria and adds an extra layer of complexity to the regulation of nucleus-organelle coordination during early plant development. Imprinted genes are only found in mammals and flowering plants, and they express with parent-of-origin-specific patterns. Unlike in mammals, only a few imprinted genes was identified and functionally characterized in plants, and almost all of them encode nuclear proteins. Here, we identified NUWA as a new type of imprinted gene in Arabidopsis. NUWA has maternal-specific expression and controls the early seed development in Arabidopsis, with its encoded protein localizing to and functioning in the maternally inherited mitochondria. The discovery of NUWA reveals a unique mechanism of maternal control of mitochondrial function and adds an extra layer of complexity to nucleus-organelle coordination. It further indicates that, similar to mammals, imprinted genes in plants are also involved in various subcellular biological processes.