title: Grasses use an alternatively wired bHLH transcription factor network to establish stomatal identity.
abstract: Stomata, epidermal valves facilitating plant-atmosphere gas exchange, represent a powerful model for understanding cell fate and pattern in plants. Core basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors regulating stomatal development were identified in Arabidopsis, but this dicot's developmental pattern and stomatal morphology represent only one of many possibilities in nature. Here, using unbiased forward genetic screens, followed by analysis of reporters and engineered mutants, we show that stomatal initiation in the grass Brachypodium distachyon uses orthologs of stomatal regulators known from Arabidopsis but that the function and behavior of individual genes, the relationships among genes, and the regulation of their protein products have diverged. Our results highlight ways in which a kernel of conserved genes may be alternatively wired to produce diversity in patterning and morphology and suggest that the stomatal transcription factor module is a prime target for breeding or genome modification to improve plant productivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Raissig
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abrash
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305;
authors.forename: Akhila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bettadapur
authors.affiliation: Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.
authors.forename: John P
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1786-2689
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305; dbergmann@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Dominique C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Bergmann
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D058431:Brachypodium / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D054046:Plant Stomata / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: Brachypodium; bHLH transcription factor; grass; stomatal development