{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T23:03:10Z","timestamp":1775775790071,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,25]],"date-time":"2022-11-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1669334400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:p>As a typical dioecious species, <jats:italic>Zanthoxylum armatum<\/jats:italic> establishes apomictic reproduction, hence only female trees are cultivated. However, male and hermaphrodite flowers have recently appeared in female plants, resulting in a dramatic yield reduction. To date, the genetic basis underlying sex determination and apomixis in <jats:italic>Z. armatum<\/jats:italic> has been largely unknown. Here, we observed abortion of the stamen or carpel prior to primordium initiation, thus corroborating the potential regulation of MADS-box in sex determination. In <jats:italic>Z. armatum<\/jats:italic>, a total of 105 MADS-box genes were identified, harboring 86 MIKC-type MADSs with lack of FLC orthologues. Transcriptome analysis revealed candidate <jats:italic>MADSs<\/jats:italic> involved in floral organ identity, including ten male-biased <jats:italic>MADSs<\/jats:italic>, represented by <jats:italic>ZaMADS92\/81\/75<\/jats:italic>(AP3\/PI-like), and twenty-six female-specified, represented by <jats:italic>ZaMADS80\/49<\/jats:italic> (STK\/AGL11-like) and <jats:italic>ZaMADS42<\/jats:italic> (AG-like). Overexpressing <jats:italic>ZaMADS92<\/jats:italic> resulted in earlier flowering, while <jats:italic>ZaMADS80<\/jats:italic> overexpression triggered precocious fruit set and parthenocarpy as well as dramatic modifications in floral organs. To characterize their regulatory mechanisms, a comprehensive protein-protein interaction network of the represented MADSs was constructed based on yeast two-hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. Compared with model plants, the protein interaction patterns in <jats:italic>Z. armatum<\/jats:italic> exhibited both conservation and divergence. ZaMADS70 (SEP3-like) interacted with ZaMADS42 and ZaMADS48 (AP3-like) but not ZaMADS40 (AP1-like), facilitating the loss of petals in <jats:italic>Z. armatum<\/jats:italic>. The ZaMADS92\/ZaMADS40 heterodimer could be responsible for accelerating flowering in <jats:italic>ZaMADS92<\/jats:italic>-OX lines. Moreover, the interactions between ZaMADS80 and ZaMADS67(AGL32-like) might contribute to apomixis. This work provides new insight into the molecular mechanisms of MADS-boxes in sex organ identity in <jats:italic>Z. armatum<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2022.1038828","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,25]],"date-time":"2022-11-25T06:05:37Z","timestamp":1669356337000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Genome-wide identification, interaction of the MADS-box proteins in Zanthoxylum armatum and functional characterization of ZaMADS80 in\u00a0floral\u00a0development"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Ning","family":"Tang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhengyan","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Peiyin","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xian","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Juan","family":"Lou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanni","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qiyao","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuo","family":"Si","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaofan","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zexiong","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,11,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"646","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1257225","article-title":"A y-chromosome\u2013encoded small RNA acts as a sex determinant in persimmons","volume":"346","author":"Akagi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1424","DOI":"10.1105\/tpc.105.031831","article-title":"Comprehensive interaction map of the arabidopsis MADS box transcription factors","volume":"17","author":"de Folter","year":"2005","journal-title":"Plant Cell"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"755","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-313X.2005.02336.x","article-title":"Floral MADS box genes and homeotic gender dimorphism in thalictrum dioicum (Ranunculaceae)\u2013a new model for the study of dioecy","volume":"41","author":"Di Stilio","year":"2005","journal-title":"Plant J."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.1038\/s41438-020-00459-x","article-title":"ZbAGL11, a class d MADS-box transcription factor of zanthoxylum bungeanum, is involved in sporophytic apomixis","volume":"8","author":"Fei","year":"2021","journal-title":"Horticult. 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