Floral homeotic genes are targets of gibberellin signaling in flower development

Abstract

Gibberellins (GAs) are a class of plant hormones involved in the regulation of flower development in Arabidopsis. The GA-deficient ga1-3 mutant shows retarded growth of all floral organs, especially abortive stamen development that results in complete male sterility. Until now, it has not been clear how GA regulates the late-stage development of floral organs after the establishment of their identities within floral meristems. Various combinations of null mutations of DELLA proteins can gradually rescue floral defects in ga1-3. In particular, the synergistic effect of rga-t2 and rgl2-1 can substantially restore flower development in ga1-3. We find that the transcript levels of floral homeotic genes APETALA3 (AP3), PISTILLATA (PI), and AGAMOUS (AG) are immediately upregulated in young flowers of ga1-3 upon GA treatment. Using a steroid-inducible activation of RGA, we further demonstrated that these floral homeotic genes are transcriptionally repressed by RGA activity in young flowers whereas the expression of LEAFY (LFY) and APETALA1 (AP1) is not substantially affected. In addition, we observed the partial rescue of floral defects in ga1-3 by overexpression of AG. Our results indicate that GA promotes the expression of floral homeotic genes by antagonizing the effects of DELLA proteins, thereby allowing continued flower development.