title: Signaling from maize organ primordia via FASCIATED EAR3 regulates stem cell proliferation and yield traits.
abstract: Shoot apical meristems are stem cell niches that balance proliferation with the incorporation of daughter cells into organ primordia. This balance is maintained by CLAVATA-WUSCHEL feedback signaling between the stem cells at the tip of the meristem and the underlying organizing center. Signals that provide feedback from organ primordia to control the stem cell niche in plants have also been hypothesized, but their identities are unknown. Here we report FASCIATED EAR3 (FEA3), a leucine-rich-repeat receptor that functions in stem cell control and responds to a CLAVATA3/ESR-related (CLE) peptide expressed in organ primordia. We modeled our results to propose a regulatory system that transmits signals from differentiating cells in organ primordia back to the stem cell niche and that appears to function broadly in the plant kingdom. Furthermore, we demonstrate an application of this new signaling feedback, by showing that weak alleles of fea3 enhance hybrid maize yield traits.
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Byoung Il
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Je
authors.affiliation: Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gruel
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Young Koung
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bommert
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Edgar Demesa
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Arevalo
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Eveland
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Qingyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldshmidt
authors.affiliation: Agricultural Biotechnology, DuPont Pioneer, Johnston, Iowa, USA.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meeley
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Madelaine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.affiliation: Agricultural Biotechnology, DuPont Pioneer, Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
authors.forename: Mai
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2130-222X
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.affiliation: Agricultural Biotechnology, DuPont Pioneer, Wilmington, Delaware, USA.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.affiliation: Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.|Computational Biology and Biological Physics Group, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2340-588X
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jönsson
authors.affiliation: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018519:Meristem / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins