Conserved pleiotropy of an ancient plant homeobox gene uncovered by cis-regulatory dissection | Zendy

Anat Hendelman | Zendy; Sophia G. Zebell | Zendy; Daniel Rodríguez-Leal | Zendy; Noah Dukler | Zendy; Gina M. Robitaille | Zendy; Xuelin Wu | Zendy; Jamie L. Kostyun | Zendy; Lior Tal | Zendy; Peipei Wang | Zendy; Madelaine Bartlett | Zendy; Yuval Eshed | Zendy; Idan Efroni | Zendy; Zachary B. Lippman | Zendy

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Conserved pleiotropy of an ancient plant homeobox gene uncovered by cis-regulatory dissection

Author(s) -

Anat Hendelman,

Sophia G. Zebell,

Daniel Rodríguez-Leal,

Noah Dukler,

Gina M. Robitaille,

Xuelin Wu,

Jamie L. Kostyun,

Lior Tal,

Peipei Wang,

Madelaine Bartlett,

Yuval Eshed,

Idan Efroni,

Zachary B. Lippman

Publication year - 2021

Publication title -

cell

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 26.304

H-Index - 776

eISSN - 1097-4172

pISSN - 0092-8674

DOI - 10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.001

Subject(s) - biology , homeobox , pleiotropy , genetics , gene , homeobox protein nkx 2.5 , gene regulatory network , homeobox a1 , evolutionary biology , regulator gene , dissection (medical) , computational biology , regulation of gene expression , gene expression , anatomy , phenotype

Divergence of gene function is a hallmark of evolution, but assessing functional divergence over deep time is not trivial. The few alleles available for cross-species studies often fail to expose the entire functional spectrum of genes, potentially obscuring deeply conserved pleiotropic roles. Here, we explore the functional divergence of WUSCHEL HOMEOBOX9 (WOX9), suggested to have species-specific roles in embryo and inflorescence development. Using a cis-regulatory editing drive system, we generate a comprehensive allelic series in tomato, which revealed hidden pleiotropic roles for WOX9. Analysis of accessible chromatin and conserved cis-regulatory sequences identifies the regions responsible for this pleiotropic activity, the functions of which are conserved in groundcherry, a tomato relative. Mimicking these alleles in Arabidopsis, distantly related to tomato and groundcherry, reveals new inflorescence phenotypes, exposing a deeply conserved pleiotropy. We suggest that targeted cis-regulatory mutations can uncover conserved gene functions and reduce undesirable effects in crop improvement.

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