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Vascular development in plants: specification of xylem and phloem tissues

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Abstract

The plant vascular system is a complicated network of conducting tissues that interconnects all organs and transports water, minerals, organic compounds, and various signaling molecules throughout the entire organism. This system is composed of two major tissue types - xylem and phloem - that originate from the vascular meristem, i.e., the procambium. Recently, combined applications of molecular genetics and genomics tools have provided significant insights into the underlying mechanisms by which specification of these two types are regulated. They include 1) the asymmetric patterning of xylem and phloem in the vascular bundle that arises through antagonistic functioning between the HD-ZIP III and KANADI transcription factors, 2) control of vascular cell proliferation by brassinosteroids (BRs) and the HD-ZIP III transcription factors, and 3) regulation of vascular tissue identity by the MYB transcription factor APL and the NAC transcription factors VND6 and VND7. These findings define an emerging developmental framework for the control of vascular tissue specification.

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Abbreviations

ATHB8:

Arabidopsis thaliana Homeobox 8

CAN:

CORONA

HD-ZIP III:

class III homeodomain-leucine zipper

miRNA:

microRNA

PHB:

PHABULOSA

PHV:

PHAVOLUTA

REV/IFL1:

REVOLUTA/INTERFASCICULA FIBERLESS1

SAM:

shoot apical meristem

START:

StAR-related lipid-transfer

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Signaling Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, 51 -742, Seoul, Korea

    Jae Hoon Jung & Chung Mo Park

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  1. Jae Hoon Jung
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  2. Chung Mo Park
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Correspondence to Chung Mo Park.

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Jung, J.H., Park, C.M. Vascular development in plants: specification of xylem and phloem tissues. J. Plant Biol. 50, 301–305 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030658

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03030658

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