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Updated: Jul 24, 2025

Long-term, High-resolution Confocal Time Lapse Imaging of Arabidopsis Cotyledon Epidermis during Germination
Published on: December 31, 2012
Cortical polarity ensures its own asymmetric inheritance in the stomatal lineage to pattern the leaf surface
Andrew Muroyama1,2, Yan Gong1, Kensington S Hartman2
1Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Abstract:
Asymmetric cell divisions specify differential cell fates across kingdoms. In metazoans, preferential inheritance of fate determinants into one daughter cell frequently depends on polarity-cytoskeleton interactions. Despite the prevalence of asymmetric divisions throughout plant development, evidence for analogous mechanisms that segregate fate determinants remains elusive. Here, we describe a mechanism in the Arabidopsis leaf epidermis that ensures unequal inheritance of a fate-enforcing polarity domain. By defining a cortical region depleted of stable microtubules, the polarity domain limits possible division orientations. Accordingly, uncoupling the polarity domain from microtubule organization during mitosis leads to aberrant division planes and accompanying cell identity defects. Our data highlight how a common biological module, coupling polarity to fate segregation through the cytoskeleton, can be reconfigured to accommodate unique features of plant development.
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