TDIF Peptide Signaling Regulates Vascular Stem Cell Proliferation via theWOX4Homeobox Gene inArabidopsis
- 1 August 2010
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Plant Cell
- Vol. 22 (8), 2618-2629
- https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.110.076083
Abstract
The indeterminate nature of plant growth and development depends on the stem cell system found in meristems. The Arabidopsis thaliana vascular meristem includes procambium and cambium. In these tissues, cell-cell signaling, mediated by a ligand-receptor pair made of the TDIF (for tracheary element differentiation inhibitory factor) peptide and the TDR/PXY (for TDIF RECEPTOR/ PHLOEM INTERCALATED WITH XYLEM) membrane protein kinase, promotes proliferation of procambial cells and suppresses their xylem differentiation. Here, we report that a WUSCHEL-related HOMEOBOX gene, WOX4, is a key target of the TDIF signaling pathway. WOX4 is expressed preferentially in the procambium and cambium, and its expression level was upregulated upon application of TDIF in a TDR-dependent manner. Genetic analyses showed that WOX4 is required for promoting the proliferation of procambial/cambial stem cells but not for repressing their commitment to xylem differentiation in response to the TDIF signal. Thus, at least two intracellular signaling pathways that diverge after TDIF recognition by TDR might regulate independently the behavior of vascular stem cells. Detailed observations in loss-of-function mutants revealed that TDIF-TDR-WOX4 signaling plays a crucial role in the maintenance of the vascular meristem organization during secondary growth.Keywords
This publication has 53 references indexed in Scilit:
- Differential Recruitment ofWOXTranscription Factors for Lateral Development and Organ Fusion in Petunia andArabidopsisPlant Cell, 2009
- Ethylene is an endogenous stimulator of cell division in the cambial meristem of PopulusProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Cytokinins are central regulators of cambial activityProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Cytokinin signaling regulates cambial development in poplarProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Plant CLE peptides from two distinct functional classes synergistically induce division of vascular cellsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Non-cell-autonomous control of vascular stem cell fate by a CLE peptide/receptor systemProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008
- Combinations of WOX activities regulate tissue proliferation during Arabidopsis embryonic developmentDevelopmental Biology, 2007
- Conserved factors regulate signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana shoot and root stem cell organizersNature, 2007
- Dynamic and Compensatory Responses ofArabidopsisShoot and Floral Meristems toCLV3SignalingPlant Cell, 2006
- Receptor-like kinases from Arabidopsis form a monophyletic gene family related to animal receptor kinasesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2001