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Cytokinin signalling inhibitory fields provide robustness to phyllotaxis
Fabrice Besnard1, Yassin Refahi2, Valérie Morin3
11] Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, CNRS, INRA, ENS Lyon, UCBL, Université de Lyon, 69364 Lyon, France [2] IBENS, ENS, 75005 Paris, France (F.B.); UMR CNRS 5534, Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, Bâtiment Gregor Mendel, 16 rue Raphaël Dubois, 69622 Villeurbanne, France (V.M.); University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK (E.F); University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington LE12 5RD, UK (A.Bi.).
Nature
|December 17, 2013
Summary
Plant development relies on precise patterns. This study reveals that cytokinin signaling inhibitor AHP6 creates hormone fields, working with auxin, to ensure accurate organ initiation at the shoot apical meristem (SAM).
Area of Science:
- Plant developmental biology
- Hormone signaling in plants
- Pattern formation in biological systems
Background:
- The shoot apical meristem (SAM) generates plant organs with precise spatiotemporal patterns (phyllotaxis).
- Auxin hormone fields are known to regulate organ initiation and spacing.
- The precise mechanisms ensuring temporal precision in reiterative developmental processes remain incompletely understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of cytokinin signaling in regulating phyllotaxis.
- To identify novel hormone-based mechanisms contributing to pattern robustness in the SAM.
- To elucidate the function of ARABIDOPSIS HISTIDINE PHOSPHOTRANSFER PROTEIN 6 (AHP6) in phyllotactic pattern formation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of hormone signaling pathways in the SAM.
- Investigating intercellular movement of AHP6.
- Assessing the impact of AHP6-mediated cytokinin signaling on phyllotaxis.
Main Results:
- AHP6 acts as a cytokinin signaling inhibitor, forming hormone-based inhibitory fields.
- These AHP6-generated fields establish specific cytokinin signaling patterns within the meristem.
- AHP6-mediated cytokinin signaling contributes to the temporal precision of organ initiation at the SAM.
Conclusions:
- Two distinct hormone-based fields, involving auxin and AHP6-regulated cytokinin signaling, are crucial for robust phyllotaxis.
- AHP6 plays a key role in ensuring temporal precision during the formation of reiterative structures.
- This study reveals an original mechanism for enhancing robustness in dynamic developmental systems.
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