J Integr Plant Biol.

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The IKU2/RLK7–MAPK–MINI3 signaling module controls endosperm cellularization timing to determine seed size in Arabidopsis

Min Ni1, Yuchen Qian1, Tinggang Nong1, Wangshu Mou2, Niu Liu1, La Yang1, Dongdong Li3, Huixia Shou1 and Juan Xu1*   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    2. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310000, China
    3. College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    *Correspondence: Juan Xu (xujuan@zju.edu.cn)
  • Received:2026-01-16 Accepted:2026-03-18 Online:2026-04-20
  • Supported by:
    This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32570406 and 32270348), the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LZ23C020003), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (226-2025-00133) to Juan Xu.

Abstract: Seed size is a critical factor in determining crop yield. Recent studies highlighted the importance of the MPK3/MPK6 cascade in regulating seed size in both Arabidopsis and rice. However, the underlying mechanism is not fully elucidated. Here, we report a novel function for the MKK4/MKK5–MPK3/MPK6 module in controlling the timing of endosperm cellularization, thereby regulating the seed size. Loss of function of MKK4/MKK5 or MPK3/MPK6 results in precocious endosperm cellularization and smaller seeds. WRKY transcription factor WRKY10/MINI3 is identified as a substrate of MPK3/MPK6 in this process. During early silique development, MINI3 is expressed and undergoes phosphorylation, a process mediated by MPK3/MPK6 at five specific serine residues. The phospho-deficient MINI3SA variant loses the function of wild-type MINI3 in vivo. Furthermore, we found that IKU2 and RLK7, two closely related receptor-like kinases, function upstream of the MKK4/MKK5–MPK3/MPK6–MINI3 pathway to regulate seed size. The phosphorylation of MINI3 mediated by MPK3/MPK6 enhances its transcriptional activity toward target genes, including IKU2, RLK7, and MINI3 itself, thereby forming a positive regulatory loop within this signaling pathway. In summary, our study elucidates a signaling pathway composed of IKU2/RLK7–MAPKKK(s)–MKK4/MKK5–MPK3/MPK6–MINI3 that regulates endosperm cellularization and seed size, providing a theoretical basis for crop breeding.

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