Entries by Jesus Leon

CLAVATA signaling ensures reproductive development in plants across thermal environments (Curr. Biol.)

November 20, 2020 in /by

Plant reproduction and development requires robust signaling pathways that integrate environmental queues such as temperature. In Arabidopsis, the formation of flower primordia from the inflorescence meristem (IM) depends on the proliferation/ differentiation balance and is regulated by auxin and the conserved CLAVATA3 (CLV3) signaling pathway. CLV3 acts through many receptors to negatively regulate the WUSCHEL […]

Conserved transcriptional programs underpin organogenesis and reproduction in land plants (bioRxiv)

November 13, 2020 in /by

Land plant evolution accompanied a plethora of evolutionary novelties such as cells that compose complex organs (e.g., stems, leaves, roots) and male/female gametophytes. The identity and conservation of the transcriptional programs underlying organogenesis and reproductive development across land plants remains poorly explored. Julca et al., generated expression atlases of several organs and gametes for 10 […]

Review: Gemma cup and gemma development in Marchantia polymorpha (New Phytol.)

October 16, 2020 in /by

Plants have the astounding capacity to generate new plants derived from specialized organs (i.e., roots, leaves, and stems). This capacity, known as vegetative propagation, is used by horticulturists and farmers to propagate clonal varieties. This form of reproduction is fueled by the ability to regenerate and proliferate meristems from differentiated tissue. The liverwort model Marchantia […]

Development and cell cycle dynamics of the root apical meristem in the fern Ceratopteris richardii (bioRxiv)

September 18, 2020 in /by

Roots are essential organs for nutrient and water uptake and have been extensively investigated in angiosperms. Many studies suggest that roots originated through convergent evolution in vascular plants, a clade that includes seed plants and ferns. Besides Arabidopsis and crops, little is known about root development in extant early-divergent tracheophytes such as ferns, which represent […]

Review. Roles of plant retinoblastoma protein: cell cycle and beyond (EMBO J.)

September 11, 2020 in /by

The cell cycle is at the heart of processes such as cell division, fate acquisition and cell cycle exit towards differentiation. Decades of cell cycle research in animals and yeast have outlined the main components that control the cycle’s transitions, such as cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases, E2F transcription factors and the Retinoblastoma (RB1) tumor suppressor. Mostly […]

DNA damage triggers reprogramming of differentiated cells into stem cells in Physcomitrella (Nature Plants) ($)

August 28, 2020 in /by

Wounding and other types of cellular damage, such as DNA damage-induced stem cell death, trigger cellular reprogramming to confer stem cell identity to damage-adjacent cells, thus establishing a new stem cell niche capable of repairing the injury. Studies in angiosperm models have identified the phytohormone auxin and the AP2/ERF transcription factor ERF115 as key players […]

Rocks in the auxin stream: Wound-induced auxin accumulation and ERF115 expression synergistically drive stem cell regeneration (PNAS)

July 17, 2020 in /by

Plants have evolved exquisite regenerative capacities to repair wounds or even reform complete organs thanks to the proliferative activity of stem cell niches residing in meristems. Different types of injuries elicit different developmental and regenerative responses. However, a key player seems to be the phytohormone auxin, which plays multiple roles in wound recovery or regeneration […]

Fluctuating auxin response gradients determine pavement cell-shape acquisition (PNAS)

July 10, 2020 in /by

The leaf epidermis is composed primarily of undulated pavement cells arranged in a jigsaw puzzle-like architecture, with neighboring cells flawlessly interlacing with one another thanks to synchronized growth, thus making it an ideal model to study morphogenesis regulation. Seeking to better understand cell-shape acquisition, a recent study by Grones et al. used a subpopulation of […]

Multiple metabolic innovations and losses are associated with major transitions in land plant evolution (Curr. Biol.)

June 5, 2020 in /by

The colonization of land by a single streptophyte algae lineage around 450 million years ago culminated in the evolution and radiation of all terrestrial flora, the embryophytes. Adapting and thriving in the land environment required many morphological and physiological innovations, as well as the acquisition of novel metabolic pathways. However, metabolic pathway knowledge is biased […]