Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 113, Issue 29, Pages 8326-8331Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1606728113
Keywords
stomatal development; bHLH transcription factor; Brachypodium; grass
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Funding
- Swiss National Science Foundation [P2ZHP3_151598]
- Life Science Research Foundation [GBMF2550.05]
- Office of Science of the US Department of Energy [DE-AC02-05CH11231]
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) [P2ZHP3_151598] Funding Source: Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF)
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Stomata, epidermal valves facilitating plant-atmosphere gas exchange, represent a powerful model for understanding cell fate and pattern in plants. Core basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors regulating stomatal development were identified in Arabidopsis, but this dicot's developmental pattern and stomatal morphology represent only one of many possibilities in nature. Here, using unbiased forward genetic screens, followed by analysis of reporters and engineered mutants, we show that stomatal initiation in the grass Brachypodium distachyon uses orthologs of stomatal regulators known from Arabidopsis but that the function and behavior of individual genes, the relationships among genes, and the regulation of their protein products have diverged. Our results highlight ways in which a kernel of conserved genes may be alternatively wired to produce diversity in patterning and morphology and suggest that the stomatal transcription factor module is a prime target for breeding or genome modification to improve plant productivity.
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