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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #297486
Title: How to pattern a leaf

Author
item BULDOC, NATHALIE - University Of California
item O'CONNOR, DEVIN - University Of California
item MOON, JIHYUN - University Of California
item Hake, Sarah

Submitted to: Cold Spring Harbor Press
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/24/2012
Publication Date: 11/21/2012
Citation: Buldoc, N., O'Connor, D., Moon, J., Hake, S.C. 2012. How to pattern a leaf. Cold Spring Harbor Press. LXXVII:1-5.

Interpretive Summary: Leaf development presents a tremendous resource for tackling the question of patterning in biology. Leaves can be simple or highly dissected. They may have elaborated parts such as the tendrils of a pea leaf or the rolled blade of a carnivorous pitcher plant. Despite the variation in size, shape and function, all leaves initiate in the same manner, from the flanks of a meristem. The maize leaf is useful for analysis of patterning due to the wealth of mutants and the distinct tissues along the proximal distal axis. The blade is distal, the sheath is proximal, and the ligule forms at the blade/sheath boundary. Establishment of this boundary involves the transcription factors LIGULELESS1 and LIGULELESS2, and the kinase LIGULELESS NARROW. The meristem-specific protein KNOTTED1 (KN1) binds and modulates the lg2 gene. Given the localization of KN1 at the proximal end of the leaf from the time of inception, we hypothesize that KN1 plays a role in establishing the very proximal end of the leaf while an auxin maximum guides the growing distal tip.

Technical Abstract: Leaf development presents a tremendous resource for tackling the question of patterning in biology. Leaves can be simple or highly dissected. They may have elaborated parts such as the tendrils of a pea leaf or the rolled blade of a carnivorous pitcher plant. Despite the variation in size, shape, and function, all leaves initiate in the same manner: from the flanks of a meristem. The maize leaf is useful for analysis of patterning due to the wealth of mutants and the distinct tissues along the proximal distal axis. The blade is distal, the sheath is proximal, and the ligule forms at the blade/sheath boundary. Establishment of this boundary involves the transcription factors LIGULELESS1 and LIGULELESS2 and the kinase LIGULELESS NARROW. The meristem-specific protein KNOTTED1 (KN1) binds and modulates the lg2 gene. Given the localization of KN1 at the proximal end of the leaf from the time of inception, we hypothesize that KN1 has a role in establishing the very proximal end of the leaf, whereas an auxin maximum guides the growing distal tip.