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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #344182
Title: CLE peptide-mediated signaling in shoot and vascular meristem development

Author
item DAO, THAI - University Of California
item Fletcher, Jennifer

Submitted to: Frontiers in Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/12/2017
Publication Date: 12/30/2017
Citation: Dao, T.Q., Fletcher, J.C. 2017. CLE peptide-mediated signaling in shoot and vascular meristem development. Frontiers in Biology. 12(6):406-420.

Interpretive Summary: The development of both animals and plants is dependent on communication of information between different groups of cells by small signaling proteins called peptides. These peptides are typically made in one type of cell and move to neighboring cells to coordinate behaviors so that the cells divide, proliferate or change their identity together as a single unit. The CLAVATA3/ EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-RELATED (CLE) family is one of the largest families of peptides identified in plants. Work in my lab and others has shown that members of the CLE family play important roles in communicating between stem cells in meristems, which allow for lifelong growth by acting as continuous sources of new cells to make organs. In our article we analyze how CLE peptides function in two type of meristems: the shoot apical meristem that produces all of the leaf, stem and flower structures that make up the unique architecture of the plant, and the vascular meristem that produces the sugar- and water-conducting tissues of the stem.

Technical Abstract: Multicellular organisms rely on the transmission of information between cells to coordinate various biological processes during growth and development. Plants, like animals, utilize small peptide ligands as signaling molecules to transmit information between cells. These polypeptides typically act as extracellular messengers that are perceived by membrane-bound receptors, which then transduce the signal into the recipient cell to modify downstream gene transcription. The CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-RELATED (CLE) proteins represent one of the largest and best understood families of small polypeptides in plants. Members of the CLE family play critical roles in mediating cell fate decisions during plant development, particularly within the unique meristem structures that contain stem cell reservoirs acting as continuous sources of cells for organ formation. Here we review recent discoveries regarding how CLE peptide signaling pathways orchestrate the activity of shoot apical meristems that generate the aerial parts of the plant, as well as of vascular meristems that produce the sugar- and water- conducting tissues of the stem.