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Updated: Aug 23, 2025

Confocal Live Imaging of Shoot Apical Meristems from Different Plant Species
Published on: March 29, 2019
Interplay between the shoot apical meristem and lateral organs
Chunmei Guan1, Yuling Jiao1,2
1State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.
Abstract:
Tissues and organs within a living organism are coordinated, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. The shoot apical meristem (SAM) continually produces lateral organs, such as leaves, from its peripheral zone. Because of their close proximity, SAM and lateral organs interact during plant development. Existing lateral organs influence the positions of newly formed organs to determine the phyllotaxis. The SAM not only produces lateral organs, but also influences their morphogenesis. In particular, the SAM promotes leaf polarity determination and leaf blade formation. Furthermore, lateral organs help the SAM to maintain homeostasis by restricting stem cell activity. Recent advances have started to elucidate how SAM and lateral organs patterning and growth are coordinated in the shoot apex. In this review, we discuss recent findings on the interaction between SAM and lateral organs during plant development. In particular, polar auxin transport appears to be a commonly used coordination mechanism.
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