engleski

MATH-BTB PROTEINS IN PLANTS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE REGULATION OF ASYMMETRIC CELL DIVISIONS DURING GAMETOPHYTE DEVELOPMENT IN MAIZE (Zea mays L.)

Plant reproduction depends on proper development of the male and the female gametophyte. Due to the reduced size of the angiosperm gametophyte and especially inaccessibility of the female gametophyte, it is challenging to study these fundamental processes. Recent advances in microdissection techniques combined with powerful tools for transcriptome analysis have begun to shed a light on molecular mechanisms underlying the processes. The aim of this thesis was to functionally characterize a maize MATH-BTB (ZmMAB1) protein, which was encoded by a gene highly represented in cDNA libraries of isolated maize egg cells and zygotes. A phylogenetic analysis has shown that ZmMAB1 belongs to an expended group of a previously undescribed maize MATH-BTB gene family with 31 members. RNAi silencing of ZmMAB1 leads to chromosome segregation defects and short spindles during male meiosis. After meiosis-mitosis transition two identical nuclei are formed in mab1 (RNAi) mutants disrupting male and female germline progression. Cell division phenotypes of mutant plants together with its specific gene expression profile during the first mitotic division during male and female gametogenesis and in the zygote implied the importance of ZmMAB1 during asymmetric cell divisions. This hypothesis was further confirmed by heterologous expression of ZmMAB1 in Arabidopsis thaliana. Additionally, interaction of ZmMAB1 with cullin 3 suggests its role in proteasomal degradation as a part of an ubiquitin E3 ligase complex. These finding provide novel insights into the meiotic and mitotic regulatory network through selective ubiqiuitination.

gametophyte; maize; MATH-BTB proteins; asymmetric division; proteasomal degradation

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