DELLA proteins regulate spore germination and reproductive development in Physcomitrium patens

Alexandros Phokas, Rabea Meyberg, Asier Briones-Moreno, Jorge Hernandez-Garcia, Panida T Wadsworth, Eleanor F Vesty, Miguel A Blazquez, Stefan A Rensing, Juliet C Coates*

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

- Proteins of the DELLA family integrate environmental signals to regulate growth and development throughout the plant kingdom. Plants expressing non-degradable DELLA proteins underpinned the development of high-yielding 'Green Revolution' dwarf crop varieties in the 1960s. In vascular plants, DELLAs are regulated by gibberellins, diterpenoid plant hormones. How DELLA protein function has changed during land plant evolution is not fully understood.
- We have examined the function and interactions of DELLA proteins in the moss Physcomitrium (Physcomitrella) patens, in the sister group of vascular plants (Bryophytes).
- PpDELLAs do not undergo the same regulation as flowering plant DELLAs. PpDELLAs are not degraded by diterpenes, do not interact with GID1 gibberellin receptor proteins and do not participate in responses to abiotic stress. PpDELLAs do share a function with vascular plant DELLAs during reproductive development. PpDELLAs also regulate spore germination. PpDELLAs interact with moss-specific photoreceptors although a function for PpDELLAs in light responses was not detected. PpDELLAs likely act as 'hubs' for transcriptional regulation similarly to their homologues across the plant kingdom.
- Taken together, these data demonstrate that PpDELLA proteins share some biological functions with DELLAs in flowering plants, but other DELLA functions and regulation evolved independently in both plant lineages.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)654-672
Number of pages19
JournalNew Phytologist
Volume238
Issue number2
Early online date18 Feb 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Mar 2023

Keywords

  • DELLA proteins
  • diterpenes
  • light receptors
  • Physcomitrium patens
  • reproduction
  • spores
  • transcriptional regulation
  • Full papers
  • Full paper

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