title: Patterning of Arabidopsis epidermal cells: epigenetic factors regulate the complex epidermal cell fate pathway.
abstract: Cell fate determination in the Arabidopsis epidermis has been extensively studied for over a decade. Epidermal cells become either trichoblasts (hair-forming cells) or atrichoblasts (non-hair-forming cells). In Arabidopsis, two types of trichoblasts are formed in defined patterns: trichomes and root hairs. Both cell types are specified through the action of a common set of transcriptional regulators that define cell pattern. Recent studies also characterize epigenetic factors in the determination of cell fate in the root, suggesting a default pattern for epidermal cell fate that can be overridden by environmental stimuli. These results reveal how plant cell developmental plasticity is controlled at the molecular level.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Physiology, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guimil
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dunand
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology*; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000235:genetics; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D042002:Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008957:Models, Genetic; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors