A high-resolution gene expression atlas links dedicated meristem genes to key architectural traits

Knauer, S., Javelle, M., Li, L., Li, X., Ma, X., Wimalanathan, K., Kumari, S., Johnston, R., Leiboff, S., Meeley, R., Schnable, P. S., Ware, D., Lawrence-Dill, C., Yu, J., Muehlbauer, G. J., Scanlon, M. J., Timmermans, M. C. P. (November 2019) A high-resolution gene expression atlas links dedicated meristem genes to key architectural traits. Genome Res, 29 (12). pp. 1962-1973. ISSN 1088-9051 (Public Dataset)

URL: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31744902
DOI: 10.1101/gr.250878.119

Abstract

The shoot apical meristem (SAM) orchestrates the balance between stem cell proliferation and organ initiation essential for postembryonic shoot growth. Meristems show a striking diversity in shape and size. How this morphological diversity relates to variation in plant architecture and the molecular circuitries driving it are unclear. By generating a high-resolution gene expression atlas of the vegetative maize shoot apex, we show here that distinct sets of genes govern the regulation and identity of stem cells in maize versus Arabidopsis. Cell identities in the maize SAM reflect the combinatorial activity of transcription factors (TFs) that drive the preferential, differential expression of individual members within gene families functioning in a plethora of cellular processes. Subfunctionalization thus emerges as a fundamental feature underlying cell identity. Moreover, we show that adult plant characters are, to a significant degree, regulated by gene circuitries acting in the SAM, with natural variation modulating agronomically important architectural traits enriched specifically near dynamically expressed SAM genes and the TFs that regulate them. Besides unique mechanisms of maize stem cell regulation, our atlas thus identifies key new targets for crop improvement.

Item Type: Paper
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > annotation
organism description > plant > Arabidopsis
bioinformatics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > annotation > gene expression profiling annotation
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
organism description > plant > maize
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions > apical meristem
organism description > plant
organs, tissues, organelles, cell types and functions > tissues types and functions
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Ware lab
Depositing User: Adrian Gomez
Date: 19 November 2019
Date Deposited: 11 Dec 2019 19:02
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2024 16:20
PMCID: PMC6886502
Related URLs:
Dataset ID:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/38747

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