Transcriptional control of plant cell niche

BUSCH W; MIOTK A; ARIEL FEDERICO DAMIÁN; ZHAO Z; FORNER J; DAUM G; SUZAKI T; SHUSTER C; SCHULTHIESS S; LEIBFRIED A; HAUBEISS S; HA N; CHAN RAQUEL LÍA; LOHMANN JU

DEVELOPMENTAL CELL

CELL PRESS

Año: 2010 vol. 18 p. 849 - 861

1534-5807

Despite the independent evolution of multicellularity in plants and animals, the basic organization of their stem cell niches is similar. One fundamental difference, however, is that plants maintain pluripotent stem cells during their entire lifecycle. It follows that stem cell behavior has to be continuously coordinated with developmental programs and environmental conditions. Here, we report the genome-wide regulatory potential of WUSCHEL, the key transcription factor for stem cell maintenance in the shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis. WUSCHEL acts by directly binding to at least two diverse DNA motifs in more than hundred target promoters and preferentially affects the expression of genes with roles in hormone signaling, metabolism and development. One striking example is the direct transcriptional repression of CLAVATA1, which is part of a negative feedback regulation of WUSCHEL. Our results shed light on the complex transcriptional programs required for the maintenance of a dynamic and essential stem cell niche