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Updated: Dec 9, 2025

Isolation and Transcriptome Analysis of Plant Cell Types
Published on: April 7, 2023
SEUSS integrates transcriptional and epigenetic control of root stem cell organizer specification
Huawei Zhai1,2, Xiaoyue Zhang1, Yanrong You1
1State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics, National Center for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Innovation Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Proper regulation of homeotic gene expression is critical for stem cell fate in both plants and animals. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the WUSCHEL (WUS)-RELATED HOMEOBOX 5 (WOX5) gene is specifically expressed in a group of root stem cell organizer cells called the quiescent center (QC) and plays a central role in QC specification. Here, we report that the SEUSS (SEU) protein, homologous to the animal LIM-domain binding (LDB) proteins, assembles a functional transcriptional complex that regulates WOX5 expression and QC specification. SEU is physically recruited to the WOX5 promoter by the master transcription factor SCARECROW. Subsequently, SEU physically recruits the SET domain methyltransferase SDG4 to the WOX5 promoter, thus activating WOX5 expression. Thus, analogous to its animal counterparts, SEU acts as a multi-adaptor protein that integrates the actions of genetic and epigenetic regulators into a concerted transcriptional program to control root stem cell organizer specification.
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