Morphogenesis of moss leaf-like organs through variations in deeply shared developmental principles.
Wenye Lin1, Loann Collet1, Laure Mancini2
1Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke St E, Montréal, QC, H1X 2B2 Canada.
Science Advances
|April 15, 2026
Summary
The plant hormone auxin guides moss phyllid development by controlling cell division and growth. Unlike in flowering plants, mosses utilize auxin differently, revealing conserved but divergent organ development strategies in land plants.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Leaf development in land plants is well-studied in flowering plants, with auxin playing a key role.
- The function of auxin in the development of leaf-like organs (phyllids) in bryophytes is less understood.
- Investigating shared developmental principles across distantly related plant lineages is crucial for understanding evolution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of phyllid development in the model moss *Physcomitrium patens*.
- To understand the role of auxin in moss phyllid morphogenesis.
- To compare auxin's function in mosses with its known role in vascular plants.
Main Methods:
- Live-imaging to track phyllid development from a single cell.
- Genetic and pharmacological approaches to manipulate auxin pathways.
- Computational modeling to analyze cellular growth dynamics.
Main Results:
- Auxin spatially inhibits cell division and promotes cell elongation and differentiation during moss phyllid development.
- Moss PIN transporters do not mediate polar auxin transport but regulate intracellular auxin levels.
- Developmental principles of planar organ morphogenesis are conserved, but auxin transport mechanisms have diverged.
Conclusions:
- Auxin's role in organogenesis is conserved across land plants, but its transport mechanisms show evolutionary divergence.
- Convergent evolution of leaves and leaf-like organs involved similar developmental strategies with lineage-specific variations.
- This study provides insights into the evolution of plant organ development and the role of auxin.
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