Plant Development: Light Exposure Directs Meristem Fate

Plant Development: Light Exposure Directs Meristem Fate

Leaf initiation was previously thought to be self-regulated and not reliant on environmental cues. However, a recent study has revealed that light redirects meristem fate from maintenance to lateral organ initiation, through the regulation of the plant hormones auxin and cytokinin.

Common regulatory themes in meristem development and whole-plant homeostasis.

The maintenance of meristems throughout plant ontogeny allows the development of a diversity of structural forms from the same genetic base. Examination of the common and contrasting features of these meristems leads to the outline of common regulatory themes in meristem development. In particular, by including comparisons with embryogenesis research, we see that hormones and factors that are g...

NFκB Signaling Directs Neuronal Fate Decision

TBX3 Directs Cell-Fate Decision toward Mesendoderm

Cell-fate decisions and pluripotency are dependent on networks of key transcriptional regulators. Recent reports demonstrated additional functions of pluripotency-associated factors during early lineage commitment. The T-box transcription factor TBX3 has been implicated in regulating embryonic stem cell self-renewal and cardiogenesis. Here, we show that TBX3 is dynamically expressed during spec...

Light control of plant development.

To grow and develop optimally, all organisms need to perceive and process information from both their biotic and abiotic surroundings. A particularly important environmental cue is light, to which organisms respond in many different ways. Because they are photosynthetic and non-motile, plants need to be especially plastic in response to their light environment. The diverse responses of plants t...