Tuyển tập báo cáo các nghiên cứu khoa học quốc tế ngành y học dành cho các bạn tham khảo đề tài: The FANTASTIC FOUR proteins influence shoot meristem size in Arabidopsis thaliana | Wahl et al. BMC Plant Biology 2010 10 285 http 1471-2229 10 285 BMC Plant Biology RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access The FANTASTIC FOUR proteins influence shoot meristem size in Arabidopsis thaliana Vanessa Wahl1 3 Luise H Brand2 3 Ya-Long Guo3 Markus Schmid3 Abstract Background Throughout their lives plants produce new organs from groups of pluripotent cells called meristems located at the tips of the shoot and the root. The size of the shoot meristem is tightly controlled by a feedback loop which involves the homeodomain transcription factor WUSCHEL WUS and the CLAVATA CLV proteins. This regulatory circuit is further fine-tuned by morphogenic signals such as hormones and sugars. Results Here we show that a family of four plant-specific proteins encoded by the FANTASTIC FOUR FAF genes has the potential to regulate shoot meristem size in Arabidopsis thaliana. FAF2 and FAF4 are expressed in the centre of the shoot meristem overlapping with the site of WUS expression. Consistent with a regulatory interaction between the FAF gene family and WUS our experiments indicate that the FAFs can repress WUS which ultimately leads to an arrest of meristem activity in FAF overexpressing lines. The finding that meristematic expression of FAF2 and FAF4 is under negative control by CLV3 further supports the hypothesis that the FAFs are modulators of the genetic circuit that regulates the meristem. Conclusion This study reports the initial characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana FAF gene family. Our data indicate that the FAF genes form a plant specific gene family the members of which have the potential to regulate the size of the shoot meristem by modulating the CLV3-WUS feedback loop. Background In contrast to animals plant development is highly plastic with new organs being formed continuously from pools of stem cells maintained in structures called meristems. This plasticity allows plants within certain limits to adapt their body shape in response to .
