研究人员在甜瓜中分离出一个雌性到雄性的性别转换突变体，并确定其致病基因为心皮特征基因CRABS CLAW（CRC）。结果表明，瓜类植物性别决定的主要调节器，即转录因子WIP1（其表达协调雄花的发育），其将核心抑制因子TOPLESS招募到CRC启动子，通过组蛋白去乙酰化抑制其表达。损害TOPLESS-WIP1的物理相互作用导致CRC的表达，心皮决定，并因此导致雄花抑制因子——氨基环丙烷-1-羧酸合成酶7（CmACS7）的表达，从而导致雌花发育。
这些研究结果表明，性基因在演化过程中干扰了花的分生功能，从而导致了单性花的发育。
据介绍，雄性和雌性单性花是从雌雄同体的祖先演变而来的，控制花的性别对植物育种很有用。
附：英文原文
Title: The control of carpel determinacy pathway leads to sex determination in cucurbits
Author: Siqi Zhang, Feng-Quan Tan, Ching-Hui Chung, Filip Slavkovic, Ravi Sureshbhai Devani, Christelle Troadec, Fabien Marcel, Halima Morin, Céline Camps, Maria Victoria Gomez Roldan, Moussa Benhamed, Catherine Dogimont, Adnane Boualem, Abdelhafid Bendahmane
Issue&Volume: 2022-11-04
Abstract: Male and female unisexual flowers evolved from hermaphroditic ancestors, and control of flower sex is useful for plant breeding. We isolated a female-to-male sex transition mutant in melon and identified the causal gene as the carpel identity gene CRABS CLAW (CRC). We show that the master regulator of sex determination in cucurbits, the transcription factor WIP1 whose expression orchestrates male flower development, recruits the corepressor TOPLESS to the CRC promoter to suppress its expression through histone deacetylation. Impairing TOPLESS-WIP1 physical interaction leads to CRC expression, carpel determination, and consequently the expression of the stamina inhibitor, the aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase 7 (CmACS7), leading to female flower development. Our findings suggest that sex genes evolved to interfere with flower meristematic function, leading to unisexual flower development.
DOI: add4250
Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.add4250