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First published online July 19, 2004

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Why leaves are flat

Plant leaves are typically flat structures. To produce this shape, the leaf primordium, as it emerges from the shoot apical meristem, grows perpendicular to its adaxial-abaxial axis - the equivalent of the dorsal-ventral axis in animals. Specialised cells then develop on the two surfaces of the leaf. On p. 3661, Golz and co-workers report that GRAMINIFOLIA (GRAM) and PROLONGATA (PROL), related YABBY transcription factors, promote the growth and asymmetry of Antirrhinum majus leaves. The researchers show that GRAM expression in the abaxial margins of leaf primordia promotes lateral growth and abaxial cell fate by excluding adaxial identity. Paradoxically, GRAM (and its paralogue PROL) also promotes adaxial organ identity by acting non cell-autonomously. The researchers draw a parallel with Decapentaplegic signalling, which specifies both dorsal and ventral fates in Drosophila embryos, and propose that the opposing effects of GRAM reinforce and maintain the adaxial-abaxial boundary in leaf primordia.

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Related articles in Development:

GRAMINIFOLIA promotes growth and polarity of Antirrhinum leaves

John F. Golz, Mario Roccaro, Robert Kuzoff, and Andrew Hudson
Development 2004 131: 3661-3670. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?