Project description:The root epidermis of Arabidopsis provides a simple and experimentally useful model for studying the molecular basis of cell fate and differentiation. The goal of this study was to define the larger gene regulatory network that governs the differentiation of the root hair and non-hair cell types of the Arabidopsis root epidermis. Transcript levels in the root epidermis of wild-type and mutant lines were assessed by purifying populations of root epidermal cells using fluorescence-based cell-sorting. Further, the role of the plant hormones auxin and ethylene on root epidermis development was assessed by defining transcript levels in the root epidermis of plants grown on media containing IAA or ACC. These microarray results were used to construct a comprehensive gene regulatory network that depicts the transcriptional control of root epidermal cell fate and differentiation in Arabidopsis.
Project description:The root epidermis of Arabidopsis provides a simple and experimentally useful model for studying the molecular basis of cell fate and differentiation. The goal of this study was to define the transcript changes in the root epidermis of mutants associated with root epidermis cell specification, including mutants that lack a visible phenotypic alteration (try, egl3, myb23, and ttg2). Transcript levels were assessed by purifying populations of root epidermal cells using fluorescence-based cell-sorting with the WER::GFP transgene. These microarray results were used to compare the effects of single and double mutants on the gene regulatory network that controls root epidermal cell fate and differentiation in Arabidopsis.
