RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Local auxin biosynthesis promotes stem cell differentiation and organogenesis in Arabidopsis shoot apex
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 819342
DO 10.1101/819342
A1 Shalini Yadav
A1 Harish Kumar
A1 Ram Kishor Yadav
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/10/28/819342.abstract
AB One of the striking aspects of stem cells is their ability to self-renew to maintain the adequate pool over extended periods and differentiate into distinct cell types on demand to sustain the tissue growth and repair by supplying new cells. Arabidopsis plant harbors pluripotent stem cells in the central zone (CZ) of the shoot apex. The daughters of these cells upon cell division move towards the peripheral zone (PZ). At the flanks of the meristem, they form lateral organs. Cells that get displaced underneath CZ become part of the rib-meristem (RM). RM gives rise to stem tissue and vascular cell types in higher plants. Despite the three decades of genetic research work, our understanding of how stem cells differentiate into PZ and RM cell types is inadequate. Here, we show that locally produced auxin in combination with transportis essential for stem cell differentiation and organogenesis in the shoot apex. WUSCHEL, a homeodomain transcription factor, negatively regulates auxin biosynthesis in the stem cell niche to maintain the long-term pluripotency of shoot stem cells. Our findings reveal the role of local auxin biosynthesis in stem cell differentiation and how WUSCHEL regulates auxin signaling to promote stem cell fate in the shoot apex.