In:
eLife, eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, Vol. 5 ( 2016-07-11)
Abstract:
Plants are able to grow and develop throughout their lives thanks to groups of stem cells at the tips of their shoots and roots, which can constantly divide to produce new cells. Energy captured from sunlight during a process called photosynthesis is the main source of energy for most plants. Therefore, the amount and quality of light in the environment has a big influence on how plants grow and develop. An enzyme called TOR kinase can sense energy levels in animal cells and regulate many processes including growth and cell division. Plants also have a TOR kinase, but it is less clear if it plays the same role in plants, and whether it can respond to light. Plant stem cells only start to divide after the seed germinates. In shoots, a protein called WUSCHEL is required to maintain stem cells in an active state. Here, Pfeiffer et al. studied how shoot stem cells are activated in response to environmental signals in a plant known as Arabidopsis. The experiments show that light is able to activate the production of WUSCHEL independently of photosynthesis via a signal pathway that depends on TOR kinase. The stem cells do not directly sense light; instead other cells detect the light and relay the information to the stem cells with the help of a hormone called cytokinin. Further experiments show that information about energy levels in cells is relayed via another signal pathway that also involves the TOR kinase. Therefore, Pfeiffer et al.’s findings suggest that the activation of TOR by light allows plant cells to anticipate how much energy will be available and efficiently tune their growth and development to cope with the environmental conditions. Future challenges are to understand how TOR kinase is regulated by light signals and how this enzyme is able to act on WUSCHEL to trigger stem cell division.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
2050-084X
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.001
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.002
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.003
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.004
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.005
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.006
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.007
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.008
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.009
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.010
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.011
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.012
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.013
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.014
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.020
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.021
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.015
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.016
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.017
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.018
DOI:
10.7554/eLife.17023.019
Language:
English
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Publication Date:
2016
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2687154-3
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