Epigenetic regulation of fruit shape determination by the JAGGED gene in Capsella rubella

Fruits are a key feature defining angiosperms, yet how local growth is coordinated during development to generate diverse fruits remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the Capsella rubella C2H2-zinc finger transcription factor JAGGED (CrJAG) controls fruit shape determination by promoting both cell division and anisotropic growth. At the molecular level, CrJAG physically interacts with members of the Capsella rubella MULTICOPY SUPPRESSOR OF IRA1 (CrMSI) histone chaperone family, increasing the chromatin accessibility and thereby sustaining the expression of genes involved in fruit morphogenesis. The resulting closed chromatin state in Crjag fruits is characterized by a reduction of the active histone marker (H3K18ac) and an increase of the repressive marker (H3K27me3). Further expression and pharmacological treatment analyses indicate that the developmental defects in Crjag fruits are largely attributable to down-regulation of the key cell-cycle regulator CrAUR2. Collectively, our findings therefore suggest that fine-tuning the cell cycle via epigenetic modification represents an additional, essential layer of regulation critical to organ development and diversification.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-06-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73180-3
Primary Topic
Plant Molecular Biology Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Epigenetic regulation of fruit shape determination by the JAGGED gene in Capsella rubella

Mateusz Majda, Yanjun Zan, Hongzhi Kong, Yang Dong et al.
Nature Communications
Plant Molecular Biology Research
article

Epigenetic regulation of fruit shape determination by the JAGGED gene in Capsella rubella

Mateusz Majda, Yanjun Zan, Hongzhi Kong, Yang Dong, Jie Cheng, Chaobin Li, Limin Lu, Lars Østergaard, Adrien Sicard, Michael Lenhard, Nicola Trozzi, Tian‐Feng Lü, Quan Yuan, Yao Zhang, Yanan Su, Yu Han, Xiao-Yu Chen, Wen He
article en

Abstract

Fruits are a key feature defining angiosperms, yet how local growth is coordinated during development to generate diverse fruits remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that the Capsella rubella C2H2-zinc finger transcription factor JAGGED (CrJAG) controls fruit shape determination by promoting both cell division and anisotropic growth. At the molecular level, CrJAG physically interacts with members of the Capsella rubella MULTICOPY SUPPRESSOR OF IRA1 (CrMSI) histone chaperone family, increasing the chromatin accessibility and thereby sustaining the expression of genes involved in fruit morphogenesis. The resulting closed chromatin state in Crjag fruits is characterized by a reduction of the active histone marker (H3K18ac) and an increase of the repressive marker (H3K27me3). Further expression and pharmacological treatment analyses indicate that the developmental defects in Crjag fruits are largely attributable to down-regulation of the key cell-cycle regulator CrAUR2. Collectively, our findings therefore suggest that fine-tuning the cell cycle via epigenetic modification represents an additional, essential layer of regulation critical to organ development and diversification.

Nature Communications
Uppsala University (SE), University of Potsdam (DE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Beijing Botanical Garden (CN), University of Oxford (GB), Tobacco Research Institute (CN), Institute of Botany of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Bio-Works (Sweden) (SE), Umeå Plant Science Centre (SE), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CN), Institute of Botany (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), China National Botanical Garden, Henan Agricultural University (CN), University of Lausanne (CH), KU Leuven (BE)
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Plant Molecular Biology Research
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.