JAIBA, a class-II HD-ZIP transcription factor involved in the regulation of meristematic activity, and important for correct gynoecium and fruit development in Arabidopsis

The gynoecium is one of the most complex organs of a plant. After fertilization, it becomes a fruit, which has two important functions: to protect the seeds while they develop and to disperse them at maturity. The development and patterning of the gynoecium and later fruit must be finely regulated to ensure the survival of the species that produces them. The process that leads to successful fruit formation starts at early stages of floral meristem development and follows a series of chronologically successive events. In this work we report the functional characterization of the class-II homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) JAIBA (JAB) gene. Mutant jab plants show sporophytic defects in male and female reproductive development, and combined with crabs claw cause defects in the floral meristem (FM) determination process and gynoecium medial tissue development. This suggests that proper FM determination is required for gynoecium medial tissue development, and indicates that JAB and CRC are necessary for both processes. Furthermore, the JAB protein interacts with transcription factors known to regulate meristematic activity, fruit development, and floral meristem determinacy. The sporophytic effect on pollen and embryo sac development might be an independent and later function of JAB. In summary, we present data that indicates that the JAB gene regulates meristematic activity in different tissues, and that it is necessary for the correct formation of the gynoecium at different stages, contributing to a crucial process in plant life: proper fruit development.