Balancing of hormonal biosynthesis and catabolism pathways, a strategy to ameliorate the negative effects of heat stress on reproductive growth

In pea (Pisum sativum L.), moderate heat stress during early flowering/fruit set increased seed/ovule abortion, and concomitantly produced fruits with reduced ovary (pericarp) length, and fewer seeds at maturity. Plant hormonal networks coordinate seed and pericarp growth and development. To determine if these hormonal networks are modulated in response to heat stress, we analyzed the gene expression patterns and associated these patterns with precursors, and bioactive and inactive metabolites of the auxin, gibberellin (GA), abscisic acid (ABA), and ethylene biosynthesis/catabolism pathways in young developing seeds and pericarps of non-stressed and 4-day heat-stressed fruits. Our data suggest that within the developing seeds heat stress decreased bioactive GA levels reducing GA growth-related processes, and that increased ethylene levels may have promoted this inhibitory response. In contrast, heat stress increased auxin biosynthesis gene expression and auxin levels in the seeds and pericarps, and seed ABA levels, both effects can increase seed sink strength. We hypothesize that seeds with higher auxin- and ABA-induced sink strength and adequate bioactive GA levels will set and continue to grow, while the seeds with lower sink strength (low auxin, ABA, and GA levels) will become more sensitive to heat stress-induced ethylene leading to ovule/seed abortion.

The FRK1 mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) from Solanum chacoense is involved in embryo sac and pollen development

The fertilization-related kinase 1 (ScFRK1), a nuclear-localized mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase (MAPKKK) from the wild potato species Solanum chacoense, belongs to a small group of pMEKKs that do not possess an extended N- or C-terminal regulatory domain. Initially selected based on its highly specific expression profile following fertilization, in situ expression analyses revealed that the ScFRK1 gene is also expressed early on during female gametophyte development in the integument and megaspore mother cell and, later, in the synergid and egg cells of the embryo sac. ScFRK1 mRNAs are also detected in pollen mother cells. Transgenic plants with lower or barely detectable levels of ScFRK1 mRNAs lead to the production of small fruits with severely reduced seed set, resulting from a concomitant decline in the number of normal embryo sacs produced. Megagametogenesis and microgametogenesis were affected, as megaspores did not progress beyond the functional megaspore (FG1) stage and the microspore collapsed around the first pollen mitosis. As for other mutants that affect embryo sac development, pollen tube guidance was severely affected in the ScFRK1 transgenic lines. Gametophyte to sporophyte communication was also affected, as observed from a marked change in the transcriptomic profiles of the sporophytic tissues of the ovule. The ScFRK1 MAPKKK is thus involved in a signalling cascade that regulates both male and female gamete development.