| Abstract Detail
Growth and Vegetative Development Abrash, Emily [1], Bergmann, Dominique [1]. Two new regulators reveal tissue-specific rules for stomatal patterning. Stomata, the epidermal valves regulating plant gas exchange, consist of paired guard cells surrounding a central pore. Plants can respond to environmental cues via stomatal modification at the physiological level by contracting or relaxing the guard cells. Plants also respond at the developmental level by altering the number and distribution of stomata produced. In wild type Arabidopsis plants, stomata are found in almost all aerial organs and are patterned such that no two stomata form in contact with one another. Several signaling molecules have been implicated in the establishment of this pattern, including the ERECTA family of leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases and the leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM)1,2. tmm mutants display tissue-specific defects in both stomatal density and patterning, producing no stomata in the stems and excess stomata in the rosette leaves. Two new mutants, challah and cinnabun, were identified in a screen for mutations that restore stomata to stems in a tmm background. CINNABUN appears to repress stomatal initiation in all tissues, while CHALLAH may be a stem-specific stomatal repressor. Both mutations have been mapped via positional cloning, and preliminary results indicate that CHALLAH encodes a small protein of unknown function. The only other single mutation known to restore stomata to tmm stems is in ERECTA-LIKE1 (ERL1), a putative receptor1. Progress in characterizing CHALLAH and in mapping CINNABUN will be presented, as will genetic interactions between these loci and known players in stomatal development.
1 Shpak et al. (2005) Science 309: 290-3; 2 Nadeau and Sack (2002) Science 296: 1697-1700
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Related Links:
Bergmann Lab
1 - Stanford University, Biological Sciences, 212 Gilbert Hall, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA
Keywords:
stomata
guard cell
development
differentiation
epidermis
patterning.
Presentation Type: Plant Biology Abstract
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P26012
Abstract ID:309 |
