Molecular Genetics of Arabidopsis

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

0211670 Meyerowitz A major research program is proposed, with the goal of understanding in detail how shoot apical meristems of plants control their patterns and numbers of cell divisions. Two sets of genetic experiments are proposed, each with its own aims. The first set includes careful analyses of cell type and cell divisions in mutant and wild type shoot apical meristems (SAMs), and time course analysis of the dynamic changes induced in SAMs by changes in expression of the genes that control meristem behavior. Among these genes are CLAVATA1, CLAVATA3, WUSCHEL, and SHOOT MERISTEMLESS. These experiments should result in a newly detailed view of cell division and cell differentiation control in meristems, and will provide a toolkit for detailed analysis of new mutant phenotypes and new gene functions. The second set of experiments are developmental-genetic analyses of newly discovered meristem control genes such as HANABA TARANU and KANADI4, and mutagenic screens of types not used so far with plants, to find more meristem control genes. These experiments will fill in some of the missing players in meristem control, and will lead directly to new hypotheses of cellular communication and behavior in meristems. The overall result is expected to be a newly detailed and dynamic description of meristem cell activity, and following from this, and from genetic analysis of the genes that control meristem behavior, a new functional understanding of shoot apical meristems, and thus of plant growth and development.