Abstract
In Arabidopsis, CLV3-CLV1 signaling system plays an important role in shoot apical meristem (SAM) maintenance. However, in legumes, such as Lotus japonicus, Glycine max and Medicago truncatula, the orthologs of CLV1 (HAR1, NTS1/NARK and SUNN) function in the regulation of nodulation but do not seem to involve in SAM maintenance. Thus, in legumes, whether the CLV3-CLV1-like intercellular signaling system functions in SAM maintenance is still unclear. Therefore, we focused on Lotus CLV3-like (LjCLV3) gene and performed its functional analysis. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that LjCLV3 is expressed in shoot apical, inflorescence and flower meristems. The calli transduced with LjCLV3 overexpression construct shows low efficiency in shoot regeneration. By contrast, the calli transduced with LjCLV3 RNAi construct shows higher efficiency than the control lines. Furthermore, LjCLV3-silenced plants show stem fasciation and the increase in the number of flowers per peduncle. Thus LjCLV3 is suggested to function in SAM maintenance.
