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MIR166/165 genes exhibit dynamic expression patterns in regulating shoot apical meristem and floral development in Arabidopsis

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Abstract

The miR166/165 group and its target genes regulate diverse aspects of plant development, including apical and lateral meristem formation, leaf polarity, and vascular development. We demonstrate here that MIR166/165 genes are dynamically controlled in regulating shoot apical meristem (SAM) and floral development in parallel to the WUSCHEL (WUS)-CLAVATA (CLV) pathway. Although miR166 and miR165 cleave same target mRNAs, individual MIR166/165 genes exhibit distinct expression domains in different plant tissues. The MIR166/165 expression is also temporarily regulated. Consistent with the dynamic expression patterns, an array of alterations in SAM activities and floral architectures was observed in the miR166/165-overproducing plants. In addition, when a MIR166a-overexpressing mutant was genetically crossed with mutants defective in the WUS-CLV pathway, the resultant crosses exhibited additive phenotypic effects, suggesting that the miR166/165-mediated signal exerts its role via a distinct signaling pathway.

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Abbreviations

CLV:

CLAVATA

CNA:

CORONA

FM:

Floral meristem

HD-ZIP III:

Class III homeodomain-leucine zipper

miRNA:

MicroRNA

PHB:

PHABULOSA

PHV:

PHAVOLUTA

REV:

REVOLUTA

SAM:

Shoot apical meristem

WUS:

WUSCHEL

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the BK21, the BioGreen21 (305-20040050), and the National Research Laboratory programs and by grants from KRF (R02-2003-000-10001-0), KISTEP (M1-0219-00-0003), and from the Plant Signaling Network Research Center.

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  1. Molecular Signaling Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-742, South Korea

    Jae-Hoon Jung & Chung-Mo Park

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  1. Jae-Hoon Jung
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  2. Chung-Mo Park
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Correspondence to Chung-Mo Park.

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Jung, JH., Park, CM. MIR166/165 genes exhibit dynamic expression patterns in regulating shoot apical meristem and floral development in Arabidopsis . Planta 225, 1327–1338 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-006-0439-1

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