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Regulation of Meristem Morphogenesis by Cell Wall Synthases in Arabidopsis.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Schuster, Christoph  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1948-2367
Beahan, Cherie T 
Charoensawan, Varodom 
Peaucelle, Alexis 

Abstract

The cell walls of the shoot apical meristem (SAM), containing the stem cell niche that gives rise to the above-ground tissues, are crucially involved in regulating differentiation. It is currently unknown how these walls are built and refined or their role, if any, in influencing meristem developmental dynamics. We have combined polysaccharide linkage analysis, immuno-labeling, and transcriptome profiling of the SAM to provide a spatiotemporal plan of the walls of this dynamic structure. We find that meristematic cells express only a core subset of 152 genes encoding cell wall glycosyltransferases (GTs). Systemic localization of all these GT mRNAs by in situ hybridization reveals members with either enrichment in or specificity to apical subdomains such as emerging flower primordia, and a large class with high expression in dividing cells. The highly localized and coordinated expression of GTs in the SAM suggests distinct wall properties of meristematic cells and specific differences between newly forming walls and their mature descendants. Functional analysis demonstrates that a subset of CSLD genes is essential for proper meristem maintenance, confirming the key role of walls in developmental pathways.

Description

Keywords

Arabidopsis, Arabidopsis Proteins, Cell Wall, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, Glycosyltransferases, Meristem, RNA, Messenger, Sequence Analysis, RNA

Journal Title

Curr Biol

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0960-9822
1879-0445

Volume Title

26

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Gatsby Charitable Foundation (unknown)
Gatsby Charitable Foundation (unknown)
Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2015-285)
V.C. is in receipt of a Thailand Research Fund (TRF) grant for New Researcher (Grant Number TRG5880067), and a Research Supplement grant from Faculty of Science, Mahidol University. CB, MSD and AB acknowledge the support of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls, Australia (Grant Number CE110001007). EMM acknowledges support from the Gatsby Charitable Trust through Fellowships GAT3272/C and GAT3273-PR1, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (through Grant GBMF3406) and the US Department of Energy (through award DE-FG02-99ER13873). AP acknowledges support of the EU Marie-Curie FP7 COFUND People Programme through the award of an AgreenSkills grant no. 267196. RW acknowledges support from the Leverhulme Trust (Grant RPG-2015-285).