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TOO MANY MOUTHS promotes cell fate progression in stomatal development of Arabidopsis stems

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Abstract

Mutations in TOO MANY MOUTHS (TMM), which encodes a receptor-like protein, cause stomatal patterning defects in Arabidopsis leaves but eliminate stomatal formation in stems. Stomatal development in wild-type and tmm stems was analyzed to define TMM function. Epidermal cells in young tmm stems underwent many asymmetric divisions characteristic of entry into the stomatal pathway. The resulting precursor cells, meristemoids, appropriately expressed cell fate markers such as pTMM:GFP. However, instead of progressing developmentally by forming a guard mother cell, the meristemoids arrested, dedifferentiated, and enlarged. Thus asymmetric divisions are necessary but not sufficient for stomatal formation in stems, and TMM promotes the fate and developmental progression of early precursor cells. Comparable developmental and mature stomatal phenotypes were also found in tmm hypocotyls and in the proximal flower stalk. TMM is also a positive regulator of meristemoid division in leaves suggesting that TMM generally promotes meristemoid activity. Our results are consistent with a model in which TMM interacts with other proteins to modulate precursor cell fate and progression in an organ and domain-specific manner. Finally, the consistent presence of a small number of dedifferentiated meristemoids in mature wild-type stems suggests that precursor cell arrest is a normal feature of Arabidopsis stem development.

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Abbreviations

ER:

ERECTA

ERL1:

ERECTA-LIKE1

ERL2:

ERECTA-LIKE2

GFP:

Green fluorescent protein

GL2:

GLABRA2

GMC:

Guard mother cell

TMM:

TOO MANY MOUTHS

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dave Deppong (BASF, N. Carolina, USA) for identifying stable transformants of pKAT::GFP, to Rebecca Lamb (Ohio State University, USA) for many helpful discussions, and to the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center at Ohio State University for supplying insertional mutant lines. This work was supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Neela S. Bhave

    Present address: Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ohio State University, 400 W. 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

  2. Kira M. Veley & Jessica R. Lucas

    Present address: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

  3. Jeanette A. Nadeau

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Neela S. Bhave, Kira M. Veley, Jeanette A. Nadeau, Jessica R. Lucas, Sanjay L. Bhave & Fred D. Sack

  2. Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Fred D. Sack

Authors
  1. Neela S. Bhave
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  2. Kira M. Veley
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Correspondence to Fred D. Sack.

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Bhave, N.S., Veley, K.M., Nadeau, J.A. et al. TOO MANY MOUTHS promotes cell fate progression in stomatal development of Arabidopsis stems. Planta 229, 357–367 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0835-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0835-9

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