第1283回生物科学セミナー
Genetic control of multicellularity in plants
Professor Dolf Weijers（A Laboratory of Biochemistry, Wageningen University, the Netherlands）
2019年05月13日(月) 14:30-16:30 理学部2号館 講堂
Multicellular organisms are faced with dramatic challenges: multiple cell types need to be
individually instructed and coordinated in time and space. In addition, precise control of cell division
and cellular growth patterns is required for developing a functional, 3-dimensional shape. In most
species, developmental patterns are highly reproducible, leading a species-specific phenotypes. A
central question in biology is how genetic regulation ensures species-specific morphologies. In
plants, morphogenesis relies heavily on the placement of the new cell wall, and thus,
developmental regulation often results in modulation of the new division plane. We use the early
Arabidopsis embryo as a simple and highly predictable model in which cell polarity, cell division, cell
type specification and tissue patterning are intricately coordinated. I will discuss our recent work
aimed at understanding the cellular basis for the establishment of multicellular patterns in 3D. I will
describe our efforts towards identifying the genetic and cellular basis for the establishment of cell
polarity and oriented cell division.
Key recent literature:
1. Radoeva, T. et al. (2019). A robust auxin response network controls embryo and suspensor
development through a bHLH module. Plant Cell 31, 52-67.
2. Yoshida, S. et al. (2019). A SOSEKI-based coordinate system interprets global polarity cues
in Arabidopsis. Nature Plants 5, 160-166.
3. Liao, C.-Y., and Weijers, D. (2018). A toolkit for studying cellular reorganization during early
Arabidopsis thaliana embryogenesis. Plant J. 93, 963-976.
4. Palovaara, J. et al. (2017). Transcriptome dynamics revealed by a gene expression atlas of
the early Arabidopsis embryo. Nature Plants 3, 894-904.
5. Palovaara, J. et al. (2016). Tissue and organ initiation in the plant embryo: A first time for
everything. Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 32, 47-75
