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Origins and Evolution of Stomatal Development.

Caspar C C Chater1,2,3, Robert S Caine4,5,6, Andrew J Fleming4,5,6

  • 1Departamento de Biología Molecular de Plantas, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, Cuernavaca 62210, Mexico (C.C.C.C.); c.chater@sheffield.ac.uk.

Plant Physiology
|March 31, 2017
PubMed
Summary

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This summary is machine-generated.

The genetic basis for stomata, pores on plant leaves, is ancient and conserved across land plants. Key genes controlling stomatal development in Arabidopsis are also found in mosses and hornworts, supporting a single evolutionary origin.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Plant developmental genetics
  • Paleobotany

Background:

  • Stomata, pores regulating gas exchange in plants, first appeared over 400 million years ago.
  • The evolutionary origin of stomata—whether monophyletic or polyphyletic—has been a long-standing debate in plant science.
  • A conserved genetic "toolbox" including basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors and EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTOR (EPF) peptides regulates stomatal development in the model plant Arabidopsis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the evolutionary history and genetic basis of stomatal development across land plants.
  • To determine if the genetic machinery for stomatal formation is conserved in ancient plant lineages.
  • To provide further evidence for a single, ancient origin of stomata in the common ancestor of land plants.

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Main Methods:

  • Comparative genomics: Analyzing newly available genomes from diverse land plant lineages.
  • Bioinformatic analysis: Identifying orthologs of key stomatal development genes (bHLH, EPF) in non-model species.
  • Literature review: Synthesizing recent discoveries in stomatal development and evolution.

Main Results:

  • Orthologs of essential Arabidopsis stomatal development genes (SPCH, MUTE, FAMA, SCREMs, EPFs) are present in mosses and hornworts, the most basal lineages with stomata.
  • Functional studies in the moss *Physcomitrella patens* confirm the requirement of these genes for stomatal development and patterning.
  • Identification of potential orthologs of key toolbox genes in a hornwort species further strengthens the evidence for conserved genetic mechanisms.

Conclusions:

  • The genetic toolkit for stomatal development is ancient, conserved, and likely originated once in the ancestor of all stomatous land plants.
  • This conserved genetic origin supports a monophyletic evolution of stomata across the land plant phylogeny.
  • Continued genomic exploration across diverse plant lineages will further illuminate the evolution of plant form and function.