Embryology Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Embryology, including details on stem cells, reproduction, transplants, cloning.

Talk global, act local-patterning the Arabidopsis embryo.

Nawy T, Lukowitz W, Bayer M

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1 Bungtown Road, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724, United States.

The primary axis and main tissue types of Arabidopsis are laid down in the early embryo. Apical-to-basal auxin flux functions as a global organizer of the axis, and recent reports are clarifying our mechanistic understanding of how a graded auxin distribution is generated and interpreted. Polar targeting of PIN transporters in the cells of the embryo is dynamic and linked to their phosphorylation status, suggesting a flexible mechanism for regulating auxin flux in space and time. PLETHORA transcription factors then interpret the graded auxin distribution to provide positional values along the axis in a dose-dependent manner. A comparable framework for tissue patterning in the radial dimension is still lacking, although cell surface signaling probably plays a key role.

Published 4 February 2008 in Curr Opin Plant Biol, 11(1): 28-33.
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