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Updated: Jul 4, 2026

Lateral Root Inducible System in Arabidopsis and Maize
Published on: January 14, 2016
Auxin acts as a local morphogenetic trigger to specify lateral root founder cells
Joseph G Dubrovsky1, Michael Sauer, Selene Napsucialy-Mendivil
1Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Apartado Postal 510-3, Cuernavaca, 62250, Morelos, Mexico.
Auxin accumulation in plant root pericycle cells is essential for specifying them as founder cells, initiating new organ development. This auxin response is the earliest event, preceding cell division and primordium formation.
Area of Science:
- Plant biology
- Developmental biology
- Hormone signaling
Background:
- Plant adaptability relies on postembryonic organogenesis, involving new shoot and root formation.
- Founder cell specification is the initial step in organ development, with auxin implicated but mechanisms unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To elucidate the role of auxin in specifying founder cells for lateral root formation.
- To determine if auxin accumulation is sufficient to induce founder cell identity.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the alf4-1 mutant to separate founder cell specification from cell division.
- Time-lapse experiments to observe early auxin response events.
- Cre-Lox system to induce local auxin synthesis in pericycle cells.
Main Results:
- Local auxin accumulation in root pericycle cells is necessary and sufficient for lateral root founder cell specification.
- Auxin response activation is the earliest detectable event in founder cell specification.
- Founder cell specification is genetically separable from subsequent cell division and primordium formation.
Conclusions:
- Auxin acts as a local instructive signal, triggering founder cell identity acquisition.
- Auxin is a key morphogenetic trigger for postembryonic organogenesis in plants.
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