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Shoot meristem maintenance is controlled by a GRAS-gene mediated signal from differentiating cells
Jeroen Stuurman1, Fabienne Jäggi, Cris Kuhlemeier
1Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Plant shoot development depends on the perpetuation of a group of undifferentiated cells in the shoot apical meristem (SAM). In the Petunia mutant hairy meristem (ham), shoot meristems differentiate postembryonically as continuations of the subtending stem. HAM encodes a putative transcription factor of the GRAS family, which acts non-cell-autonomously from L3-derived tissue of lateral organ primordia and stem provasculature. HAM acts in parallel with TERMINATOR (PhWUSCHEL) and is required for continued cellular response to TERMINATOR and SHOOTMERISTEMLESS (PhSTM). This reveals a novel mechanism by which signals from differentiating tissues extrinsically control stem cell fate in the shoot apex.