The YORE-YORE gene regulates multiple aspects of epidermal cell differentiation in Arabidopsis

We have identified a new Arabidopsis mutant, yore-yore (yre), which has small trichomes and glossy stems. Adhesion between epidermal cells was observed in the organs of the yre shoot. The cloned YRE had high homology to plant genes involved in epicuticular wax synthesis, such as ECERIFERUM1 (CER1) and maize GLOSSY1. The phenotype of transgenic plants harboring double-stranded RNA interference (dsRNAi) YRE was quite similar to that of the yre mutant. The amount of epicuticular wax extracted from leaves and stems of yre-1 was approximately one-sixth of that from the wild type. YRE promoter::GUS and in situ hybridization revealed that YRE was specifically expressed in cells of the L1 layer of the shoot apical meristem and young leaves, stems, siliques, and lateral root primordia. Strong expression was detected in developing trichomes. The trichome structure of cer1 was normal, whereas that of the yre cer1 double mutant was heavily deformed, indicating that epicuticular wax is required for normal growth of trichomes. Double mutants of yre and trichome-morphology mutants, glabra2 (gl2) and transparent testa glabra1 (ttg1), showed that the phenotype of the trichome structure was additive, suggesting that the wax-requiring pathway is distinct from the trichome development pathway controlled by GL2 and TTG1.