New roles of NO TRANSMITTING TRACT and SEEDSTICK during medial domain development in Arabidopsis fruits

The gynoecium, the female reproductive part of the flower, is key for plant sexual reproduction. During its development, inner tissues such as the septum and the transmitting tract tissue, important for pollen germination and guidance, are formed. In Arabidopsis, several transcription factors are known to be involved in the development of these tissues. One of them is NO TRANSMITTING TRACT (NTT), essential for transmitting tract formation. We found that the NTT protein can interact with several gynoecium-related transcription factors, including several MADS-box proteins, such as SEEDSTICK (STK), known to specify ovule identity. Evidence suggests that NTT and STK control enzyme and transporter-encoding genes involved in cell wall polysaccharide and lipid distribution in gynoecial medial domain cells. The results indicate that the simultaneous loss of NTT and STK activity affects polysaccharide and lipid deposition and septum fusion, and delays entry of septum cells to their normal degradation program. Furthermore, we identified KAWAK, a direct target of NTT and STK, which is required for the correct formation of fruits in Arabidopsis. These findings position NTT and STK as important factors in determining reproductive competence.