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02:45Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
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02:36Meristems and Plant Growth
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02:17Ecological Succession
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Leaf development: time to turn over a new leaf?
1División de Genética and Instituto de Bioingeniería, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Campus de Elche, Elche, Alicante, Spain. jlmicol@umh.es
Current Opinion in Plant Biology
|December 26, 2008
Summary
Understanding plant leaf development is advanced by studying leaf mutants. Genome-wide phenomics reveals new insights into leaf polarity and cell size regulation.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Molecular cloning of plant leaf morphology mutations aids in analyzing leaf development.
- Leaf mutant studies provide significant biological information on genes controlling leaf initiation, polarity, expansion, and maturation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore genome-wide leaf phenomics enabled by gene-indexed mutants, high-throughput imaging, and morphometry software.
- To investigate the relationship between translation and leaf dorsoventrality.
- To understand compensatory cell enlargement in leaf mutants.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing gene-indexed insertional mutants for large-scale phenomic studies.
- Employing automated high-throughput imaging platforms.
- Applying new morphometry software for data analysis.
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Main Results:
- Confirmed unexpected links between translation and leaf dorsoventrality through specific double mutants.
- Observed compensatory cell enlargement in leaf mutants where reduced cell numbers are offset by increased cell size.
Conclusions:
- Genome-wide leaf phenomics complements forward genetics, advancing understanding of leaf development.
- The study highlights the integration of cell cycling and cell enlargement in leaf primordia through cell-to-cell communication.