Study Provides Insight on How Maize Plants Control Stem Cell Number

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) present clues on how plants regulate their growth by studying how plants control their stem cell number. In plants, the growth of organs such as roots, leaves and flowers depends upon the activity of meristems. These reservoir-like compartments hold stem cells, which have the ability to develop into various different cell types.

Working backward from an odd-looking maize mutant called COMPACT PLANT2 (CT2) that develops abnormally enlarged ears – a phenomenon called fasciation, researchers found this gene to encode a G protein called Gα. Further experiments indicated an unexpected interaction between Gα and a cell-surface receptor that is a part of the CLAVATA signaling pathway, known to control stem cell activation. The "beginning" and "end" of the CLAVATA signaling pathway were known: receptors at the cell surface are activated by a small, secreted ligand to regulate a transcription factor called WUSCHEL inside the nucleus. Scientists are yet to fill in the gaps between these points.

View CSHL's news release at http://www.cshl.edu/Article-Jackson/g-protein-identified-as-novel-component-of-signaling-pathway-controlling-stem-cell-number-in-maize. Thu full article is available at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12583.html.