Assistant Professor Dr. Rumiko Kofuji from the Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, Institute of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, along Assistant Professor Dr. Emiko Yoro, Seiya Suzuki (Master's student), Assistant Professor Dr. Nobuhiro Akiyoshi, and Professor Dr. Keiko Sakakibara from the Department of Life Science, Rikkyo University, have successfully generated functional deletion mutants and induced expression lines of PpRKD gene through genome editing and homologous recombination using the model moss Physcomitrium patens. Using confocal microscopy, they identified the transcription factor PpRKD, which plays a critical role in determining the fate of apical cells in reproductive organs during early development. The study revealed that female reproductive organs fail to develop when the PpRKD gene is inactive. Furthermore, activation of the PpRKD gene in male reproductive organs resulted in their sexual transformation into female organs.
Dr. Kofuji specializes in the reproductive evolution of land plants and has been actively investigating the developmental processes and morphology of the reproductive organs in the moss Physcomitrium patens, which was used in this study. Her key contributions include designing the experimental system and conducting data analysis to demonstrate feminization, a critical aspect of the research findings, as well as providing general support for the study.
The gametangia (male: antheridium, female: archegonium), the sexual reproductive organs of mosses, were the first sexual reproductive organs to evolve in land plants and are widely present in non-seed plants. This study marks the first time that genes directly responsible for determining the sex of these reproductive organs have been identified.
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The results of this research were published online in the British international journal "New Phytologist" on November 22, 2024 (18:00 JST).
Figure 1: Reproductive organs at the apex of wild-type and Pprkd mutant.
Antheridia (?) and archegonias (?) on day 21 of reproductive organ induction, respectively.
Click here to see the press release【Japanese only】
Journal ：New Phytologist
Researcher's Information: Rumiko Kofuji
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