Dataset Information

Model for the regulation of Arabidopsis thaliana leaf margin development.

ABSTRACT: Biological shapes are often produced by the iterative generation of repeated units. The mechanistic basis of such iteration is an area of intense investigation. Leaf development in the model plant Arabidopsis is one such example where the repeated generation of leaf margin protrusions, termed serrations, is a key feature of final shape. However, the regulatory logic underlying this process is unclear. Here, we use a combination of developmental genetics and computational modeling to show that serration development is the morphological read-out of a spatially distributed regulatory mechanism, which creates interspersed activity peaks of the growth-promoting hormone auxin and the cup-shaped cotyledon2 (CUC2) transcription factor. This mechanism operates at the growing leaf margin via a regulatory module consisting of two feedback loops working in concert. The first loop relates the transport of auxin to its own distribution, via polar membrane localization of the pinformed1 (PIN1) efflux transporter. This loop captures the potential of auxin to generate self-organizing patterns in diverse developmental contexts. In the second loop, CUC2 promotes the generation of PIN1-dependent auxin activity maxima while auxin represses CUC2 expression. This CUC2-dependent loop regulates activity of the conserved auxin efflux module in leaf margins to generate stable serration patterns. Conceptualizing leaf margin development via this mechanism also helps to explain how other developmental regulators influence leaf shape.

SUBMITTER: Bilsborough GD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3044365 | biostudies-other | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Model for the regulation of Arabidopsis thaliana leaf margin development.

Bilsborough Gemma D GD Runions Adam A Barkoulas Michalis M Jenkins Huw W HW Hasson Alice A Galinha Carla C Laufs Patrick P Hay Angela A Prusinkiewicz Przemyslaw P Tsiantis Miltos M

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110207 8

Biological shapes are often produced by the iterative generation of repeated units. The mechanistic basis of such iteration is an area of intense investigation. Leaf development in the model plant Arabidopsis is one such example where the repeated generation of leaf margin protrusions, termed serrations, is a key feature of final shape. However, the regulatory logic underlying this process is unclear. Here, we use a combination of developmental genetics and computational modeling to show that se ...[more]

PMID: 21300866

Similar Datasets

Project description:In crop species, the impact of temperature on plant development is classically modelled using thermal time. We examined whether this method could be used in a non-crop species, Arabidopsis thaliana, to analyse the response to temperature of leaf initiation rate and of the development of two leaves of the rosette. The results confirmed the large plant-to-plant variability in the studied isogenic line of the Columbia ecotype: 100-fold differences in leaf area among plants sown on the same date were commonly observed at a given date. These differences disappeared in mature leaves, suggesting that they were due to a variability in plant developmental stage. The whole population could therefore be represented by any group of synchronous plants labelled at the two-leaf stage and followed during their development. Leaf initiation rate, duration of leaf expansion and maximal relative leaf expansion rate varied considerably among experiments performed at different temperatures (from 6 to 26 degrees C) but they were linearly related to temperature in the range 6-26 degrees C, with a common x-intercept of 3 degrees C. Expressing time in thermal time with a threshold temperature of 3 degrees C unified the time courses of leaf initiation and of individual leaf development for plants grown at different temperatures and experimental conditions. The two leaves studied (leaf 2 and leaf 6) had a two-phase development, with an exponential phase followed by a phase with decreasing relative elongation rate. Both phases had constant durations for a given leaf position if expressed in thermal time. Changes in temperature caused changes in both the rate of development and in the expansion rate which mutually compensated such that they had no consequence on leaf area at a given thermal time. The resulting model of leaf development was applied to ten experiments carried out in a glasshouse or in a growth chamber, with plants grown in soil or hydroponically. Because it predicts accurately the stage of development and the relative expansion rate of any leaf of the rosette, this model facilitates precise planning of sampling procedures and the comparison of treatments in growth analyses.

Dataset Information

Model for the regulation of Arabidopsis thaliana leaf margin development.

Publications

Model for the regulation of Arabidopsis thaliana leaf margin development.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets