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Lateral Root Inducible System in Arabidopsis and Maize

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Published on: January 14, 2016

Unique Cellular Organization in the Oldest Root Meristem.

Alexander J Hetherington¹, Joseph G Dubrovsky², Liam Dolan¹

¹Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3RB, UK.

Current Biology : CB

|June 7, 2016

Summary

Fossilized actively growing root meristems from ancient coal balls reveal unique cellular organization. This discovery shows conserved cellular dynamics in plant evolution while highlighting past diversity in root development.

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Area of Science:

Paleobotany
Developmental Biology
Plant Anatomy

Background:

Plant roots and shoots develop from self-renewing meristems at their apices.
Fossilized root apices from Carboniferous coal balls (over 300 million years old) exist, but none show active growth.
Studying extinct meristem dynamics has been limited due to the lack of actively growing fossil samples.

Purpose of the Study:

To discover and analyze actively growing fossil root meristems to compare cellular dynamics with extant taxa.
To investigate the cellular organization of ancient root meristems preserved in coal balls.

Main Methods:

Analysis of permineralized fossil soils (coal balls) from Carboniferous coal swamp forests.
Detailed imaging and examination of cellular anatomy in fossilized root apices.
Comparison of cellular organization and dynamics between fossil and extant root meristems.

Main Results:

Discovery of the first actively growing fossil root meristem, preserved in detail within Carboniferous coal balls.
The fossil meristem exhibits a unique cellular organization, including distinct Körper-Kappe boundary, discrete root cap, and a broad promeristem with numerous anticlinal cell divisions.
This finding confirms conserved cellular dynamics between ancient and modern root meristems.

Conclusions:

Actively growing root meristems can be preserved in coal balls, offering insights into extinct plant development.
The unique organization of this fossil meristem indicates that modern root meristem development represents a subset of the full evolutionary diversity.
This discovery bridges the gap in understanding cellular dynamics across extinct and extant plant lineages.