Transcriptional integration of paternal and maternal factors in the Arabidopsis zygote
Ueda M, Aichinger E, Gong W, Groot E, Verstraeten I, Vu LD, De Smet I, Higashiyama T, Umeda M, Laux T
Genes Dev. 2017;31(6):617-627.
In Arabidopsis, two pathways regulate zygote asymmetry: YODA (YDA) signaling potentiated by SHORT SUSPENSOR (SSP) sperm mRNA, and transcriptional activation of the patterning gene WOX8 by WRKY2. We show that paternal SSP/YDA signaling phosphorylates WRKY2, leading to transcriptional activation of WOX8. We further found that HOMEODOMAIN GLABROUS 11/12 are maternal regulators also activating WOX8. These reveal how maternal and paternal factors are integrated in embryo patterning of the zygote.
