Gain-of-function phenotypes of chemically synthetic CLAVATA3/ESR-related (CLE) peptides in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa

Using 26 chemically synthetic CLAVATA3/ESR (CLE) pep-tides, which correspond to the predicted products of the 31 Arabidopsis CLE genes, we investigated the CLE peptide function in Arabidopsis and rice. Treatment with some CLE peptides inhibited root elongation in rice as well as in Arabidopsis. It also reduced the size of the shoot apical meristem in Arabidopsis but not in rice. Database searches revealed 47 putative CLE genes in the rice genome and multiple CLE domains in some CLE genes, indicating diverse CLE function in these plants.