Functional Analysis and RNA Sequencing Indicate the Regulatory Role of <i>Argonaute1</i> in Tomato Compound Leaf Development

Regardless of whether a leaf is simple or compound, the mechanism underlying its development will give rise to a full comprehension of plant morphogenesis. The role of Argonaute1 (AGO1) in the development of simple leaves has been established, but its role in the development of compound leaves remains to be characterized. In this paper, a virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) strategy was used to dramatically down-regulate the expression of AGO1 ortholog in tomatoes, a model plant for research into compound leaves. AGO1-silenced tomato compound leaves exhibited morphological defects of leaf adaxial-abaxial and trichome development. Analysis of global gene expression profiles indicated that the silencing of AGO1 in tomato compound leaf caused significant changes in the expression of several critical genes, including Auxin Response Factor 4 (ARF4) and Non-expressor of PR5 (NPR5), which were involved in adaxial-abaxial formation and IAA15 that was found to contribute to growth of trichomes as well as Gibberellic Acid Insensitive (GAI) which participated in hormone regulation. Collectively, these results shed light on the complicated mechanism by which AGO1 regulates compound leaf development.无论叶片为单叶还是复叶，其发育背后的机制均能帮助我们全面理解植物形态发生过程。Argonaute1（AGO1）在单叶发育中的功能已得到明确阐明，但其在复叶发育中的作用仍有待表征。本研究采用病毒诱导基因沉默（VIGS）技术，大幅下调了复叶研究模式植物番茄中AGO1同源基因的表达水平。AGO1沉默的番茄复叶出现了叶片近-远轴极性及表皮毛发育的形态缺陷。全基因组基因表达谱分析显示，番茄复叶中AGO1的沉默显著改变了多个关键基因的表达：包括参与近-远轴极性建成的生长素响应因子4（ARF4）与PR5非表达子（NPR5）、调控表皮毛生长的IAA15，以及参与激素调控的赤霉素不敏感蛋白（GAI）。综上，本研究结果为阐明AGO1调控复叶发育的复杂机制提供了重要见解。