Cell signaling in root development

Cell signaling has recently been shown to be of major importance in cell specification during Arabidopsis root development. In the ground tissue, cues of unknown molecular nature convey positional information and two genes provide an interesting link between asymmetric cell division and the determination of cell fate. In the root epidermis, cell specification involves ethylene signaling and transcription factors of which at least two are also required for cell fate decisions in the shoot epidermis.