Tag: Development

How does a flat leaf form? Previous studies have indicated that the formation of a flattened blade depends upon a boundary layer between the upper and lower cell layers, and that mobile small RNAs contribute to this boundary, but how this occurs is not fully resolved. For example, although the small…

The cuticle is a cell-wall polymer that protects against desiccation, pathogens and UV light.  Domínguez et al. provide an open-access editorial that describes this fine collection of articles covering all aspects of the plant cuticle, from its evolutionary origins to its ecological significance. Within…

What gives stem cells their plasticity and why are differentiated cells so specialized? Sijacic et al. approach this question by analyzing transcription factor (TF) accessibility to chromatin. Nuclei were isolated from shoot apical meristem (SAM) pluripotent stem cells and fully-differentiated mesophyll…

SHORT-ROOT (SRT) is a transcription factor that has previously been shown to move between cells and so contribute to developmental patterning. Spiegelman et al. investigated the cellular machinery that contributes to SRT’s movement. Previous work showed that the movement of SRT depends on the endosome…

SHORTROOT (SRT) is a transcription factor that contributes to developmental patterning non-cell autonomously, by moving between cells. In leaves, SRT has been shown to contribute to sub-epidermal patterning specified by distance from the vein. Schuler et al. explored whether it also contributes to epidermal…

Polar localized PIN FORMED (PIN) efflux carriers proteins organize directional auxin flow and accumulation. Most flowering plants have  another family of PIN proteins called Sister of PIN1 (SoPIN1), which Arabidopsis and members of the Brassicacea family do not have. The grass Brachypodium dystachion…

The jigsaw-puzzle shape of the epidermis layer has been puzzling the scientists for some time now. Majda et al. examine the shape of the epidermis cells from the cell wall perspective. Mutations leading to even minor changes in cell wall composition significantly affected pavement cell geometry.…

Genetic screens have revealed many key components of light signaling. In this new work, Sinclair et al. provide new insights into the repression of photomorphogenesis by cell-wall derived signals. They started with a mutant, de-etiolated by zinc (dez) that shows open cotyledons and a short hypocotyl…