Skip to main content
Log in

The roles of trichome development genes in stress resistance

  • Review paper
  • Published:
Plant Growth Regulation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Trichomes are important epidermal structures that cover the surfaces of most terrestrial plants. Plants face various stresses due to their immobile nature, and trichomes play important roles in defense against environmental stressors including herbivores, strong light with high radiation, and ultraviolet light. To date, more than 100 genes are known to be involved in trichome development, including genes that regulate trichome initiation, differentiation, multidimensional cell growth, and branching. In the current review, we classify trichome development genes based on whether they are involved in trichome initiation, differentiation, and branching. Most of these genes encode transcription factors that positively or negatively regulate trichome development. Given that trichomes play key roles in plant stress responses, we explore whether trichome development-related genes also participate in other biological processes or responses, such as biotic and abiotic stress responses. Possible interactions of signaling pathways that function in trichome development and stress resistance were discussed. Elucidating the trichome development mechanism in model plants should shed light on the development of similar structures in other species and uncover key genes involved in these processes. Further characterizing these genes should facilitate the use of genetic engineering to improve stress resistance in crops.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Research Foundation of China (NSFC, Project Nos. 31600200 and 31770288) and the Development Plan for Youth Innovation Team of Shandong Provincial (2019KJE012).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

FY proposed the concept; HZ and PL wrote the paper; FY and BW revised the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Baoshan Wang or Fang Yuan.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Communicated by Luca Sebastiani.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, H., Liu, P., Wang, B. et al. The roles of trichome development genes in stress resistance. Plant Growth Regul 95, 137–148 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-021-00733-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-021-00733-5

Keywords

Navigation