title: Arabidopsis WIH1 and WIH2 genes act in the transition from somatic to reproductive cell fate.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Unlike animals, higher plants do not establish a germ line in embryo development but form haploid germ cells from diploid somatic cells late in their life cycle. However, despite its prime importance, little is known about how this transition is regulated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we show that the WUSCHEL (WUS) gene, initially identified as a stem cell regulator in the shoot meristem, is required for megasporogenesis and thus ultimately for the formation of female generative cells. WUS functions in this process by indirectly activating the expression of the WINDHOSE1 (WIH1) and WIH2 genes that encode small peptides found in plants and fungi, but not in animals. WIH genes function together with the tetraspanin-type protein TORNADO2 (TRN2)/EKEKO in promoting megasporogenesis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Together, our studies identify a pathway promoting germ cell formation from somatic precursor cells.
authors.affiliation: BIOSS Centre for Biological Signalling Studies, Faculty of Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. diana_lieber@gmx.de
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lieber
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lora
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schrempp
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lenhard
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laux
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D019070:Cell Lineage; D017343:Genes, Plant; D055993:Germ Cells, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012098:Reproduction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins