Researchers at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología of the CSIC (CNB-CSIC), in collaboration with the University of Peking (China), have identified a new element that can control branch formation in plants. TIE1, the protein analysed by researchers, promotes growth of lateral branches from axillary buds. In its absence, the plant will preferentially grow vertically. The research was published in the journal PLoS Genetics.
Shoot branching greatly influences plant architecture, and branching patterns in crop species determine leaf, fruit, and seed production. “Manipulation of shoot branching patterns is a very efficient way to promote growth and to optimise crop yields of agricultural interest”, explain Pilar Cubas and Michael Ni
colas, CNB-CSIC scientists and authors of the study. “A deeper understanding of the developmental processes that regulate plant architecture is essential”.For this study, the researchers generated Arabidopsis thaliana plants with a large amount of TIE1 protein, as well as plants in which the protein was not functional. In the first, they observe
d an increase in shoot branching and bushier plants, whereas in the second case, the plants had fewer lateral branches.In addition, the scientists observed that TIE1 accumulates in the axillary buds (precursor structures of branches) where BRANCHED1, which prevents branch formation, also accumulates. As a result, genes normally activated by BRANCHED1 are repressed. The authors suggest that TIE1 promotes branching by interaction with and inactivation of BRANCHED1
- Yang Y, Nicolas M, Zhang J, Yu H, Guo D, Yuan R, Zhang T, Yang J, Cubas P, Qin G. The TIE1 Transcriptional Repressor Controls Shoot Branching by Directly Repressing BRANCHED1 in Arabidopsis. PLoS Genet 2018; 14(3): e1007296.