Shoot meristem maintenance is controlled by a GRAS-gene mediated signal from differentiating cells.
Plant shoot development depends on the perpetuation of a group of undifferentiated cells in the shoot apical meristem (SAM). In the Petunia mutant hairy meristem (ham), shoot meristems differentiate postembryonically as continuations of the subtending stem. HAM encodes a putative transcription factor of the GRAS family, which acts non-cell-autonomously from L3-derived tissue of lateral organ primordia and stem provasculature. HAM acts in parallel with TERMINATOR (PhWUSCHEL) and is required for continued cellular response to TERMINATOR and SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (PhSTM). This reveals a novel mechanism by which signals from differentiating tissues extrinsically control stem cell fate in the shoot apex.
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Jeroen
J
Stuurman
Fabienne
F
Jäggi
Cris
C
Kuhlemeier
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018519:Meristem / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019657:Solanaceae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology
D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins