bHLH proteins know when to make a stoma.
In Arabidopsis thaliana, stomata develop through a stereotypical pattern of cell divisions. Three recent publications demonstrate that three bHLH proteins act successively in such lineages to drive the formation of stomata. SPEECHLES drives the division that initiates the stomatal-cell lineage. Then MUTE induces the formation of the immediate stomatal precursor cell. Finally, FAMA causes the stomatal precursor cell to divide into the two guard cells that surround each stomatal pore.
Serna
Laura
L
Facultad de Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, E-45071 Toledo, Spain. Electronic address: laura.serna@uclm.es.
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000502:physiology; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division; D018519:Meristem / Q000502:physiology
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; C517479:MUTE protein, Arabidopsis; C517480:SPEECHLESS protein, Arabidopsis