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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Breeding
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1502569

Identification of a potential homeodomain-like gene governing leaf size and venation architecture in birch

Provisionally accepted
Xiuyan Bian Xiuyan Bian 1Chen Chen Chen Chen 2Yang Wang Yang Wang 3Chang Qu Chang Qu 4Jing Jiang Jing Jiang 1Yao Sun Yao Sun 5Guifeng Liu Guifeng Liu 1*
  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China
  • 2 Harbin Daowai District Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Harbin, China
  • 3 Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, Beijing, China
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, China
  • 5 National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key State-owned Forest Areas Forest Resources Monitoring Center, jiagedaqi, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Leaf vein, an essential part of leaf architecture, plays significant roles in shaping the proper leaf size. To date, the molecular mechanisms governing leaf development including leaf venation patterning remains poorly understood in birch. Here, a total of 267 homeodomain-like (HD-like) superfamily genes were identified based on Arabidopsis HD-containing transcription factors, which were members of KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) family, BELL1-like homeobox (BLH) family, Zinc finger-HD (ZHD) family, HD-leucine zipper (HD-Zip) family, Golden2, ARR-B, Psr1 (GARP) family, WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX) family, and Myeloblastosis (MYB) and MYB-like family. Further, 41 HD-like genes showing co-expression with marker genes related to leaf vascular tissues exhibited differential expression during primary vein development. Among them, a potential HD-like gene (BpPHD4) of GARP family served as a negative factor in governing leaf size and venation patterning. Compared to non-transgenic plants, BpPHD4 suppression repression transgenic plants showed increased leaf length, leaf width, leaf area, leaf thickness, spongy tissue thickness, stomata number, epidermal cell size, primary vein length, the distance between the secondary veins, and primary vein diameter, which was opposite to those of BpPHD4 overexpression transgenic plants. Meanwhile, reduced expression levels of BpPHD4 could remarkably promote phloem tissue development. Transcriptome analysis of BpPHD4 overexpression transgenic plants showed two candidate genes (Bpev01.c0518.g0018 and Bpev01.c2797.g0002) probably regulated by BpPHD4. This work contributes to a better understanding of HD-like superfamily genes and the role of a potential HD-like gene in genetically controlling leaf size and venation patterning in birch, which provides clues to genetic improvement of woody plants with diverse geometric and topological properties of leaf vascular network.

    Keywords: Homeodomain-like gene, Leaf size, Venation patterning, genetic regulatory network, co-expression network, Birch

    Received: 27 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bian, Chen, Wang, Qu, Jiang, Sun and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Guifeng Liu, State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China

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