The Arabidopsis SMO2, a homologue of yeast TRM112, modulates progression of cell division during organ growth.
Cell proliferation is integrated into developmental progression in multicellular organisms, including plants, and the regulation of cell division is of pivotal importance for plant growth and development. Here, we report the identification of an Arabidopsis SMALL ORGAN 2 (SMO2) gene that functions in regulation of the progression of cell division during organ growth. The smo2 knockout mutant displays reduced size of aerial organs and shortened roots, due to the decreased number of cells in these organs. Further analyses reveal that disruption of SMO2 does not alter the developmental timing but reduces the rate of cell production during leaf and root growth. Moreover, smo2 plants exhibit a constitutive activation of cell cycle-related genes and over-accumulation of cells expressing CYCB1;1:beta-glucuronidase (CYCB1;1:GUS) during organogenesis, suggesting that smo2 has a defect in G(2)-M phase progression in the cell cycle. SMO2 encodes a functional homologue of yeast TRM112, a plurifunctional component involved in a few cellular events, including tRNA and protein methylation. In addition, the mutation of SMO2 does not appear to affect endoreduplication in Arabidopsis leaf cells. Taken together we postulate that Arabidopsis SMO2 is a conserved yeast TRM112 homologue and SMO2-mediated cellular events are required for proper progression of cell division in plant growth and development.
Hu
Zhubing
Z
Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
Qin
Zhixiang
Z
Wang
Min
M
Xu
Chongyi
C
Feng
Guanping
G
Liu
Jing
J
Meng
Zheng
Z
Hu
Yuxin
Y
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018744:DNA, Plant