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Review
The control of developmental phase transitions in plants
Peter Huijser, Markus Schmid
Development 2011 138: 4117-4129; doi: 10.1242/dev.063511
Peter Huijser
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  • For correspondence: huijser@mpipz.mpg.de markus.schmid@tuebingen.mpg.de
Markus Schmid
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  • For correspondence: huijser@mpipz.mpg.de markus.schmid@tuebingen.mpg.de
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    Fig. 1.

    Phases of plant development. Plants progress through a number of developmental transitions during their life cycle. During sexual reproduction, gametes are produced (gametophytic phase). After fertilization, populations of stem cells are established at the opposing ends of the primary growth axis of the developing embryo, forming the root apical meristem (RAM) and the shoot apical meristem (SAM) (red). These meristems give rise to all post-embryonic organs formed throughout the life of a plant. The entire aerial part (shoot) of a plant originates from the SAM. After germination, plants generally pass through three more-or-less discrete developmental phases. First, the shoot passes through a phase of vegetative growth during which the plant rapidly increases in size and mass. The vegetative growth phase can be further divided into juvenile and adult phases of vegetative development. Eventually, plants become competent to flower and undergo the transition to reproductive development. During this phase, the SAM gives rise to flowers instead of shoots. Within the flower, male and female gametes form, which enter short gametophytic (haploid) phases of development before fusing to form a new diploid zygote (start of sporophytic phase).

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    Fig. 2.

    Opposing effects of miR156, miR172 and their respective targets on Arabidopsis development. (A) Constitutive overexpression of MIR156 results in prolonged vegetative phase (e.g. an increased number of juvenile leaves) and reduced apical dominance, i.e. the simultaneous bolting of multiple shoots when compared with (B) Col-0 (wild type) control. (C) A plant constitutively overexpressing MIR172, which, by contrast, essentially skips the juvenile vegetative growth phase and flowers after producing only two or three small adult leaves. (D) A plant constitutively overexpressing a miRNA-resistant form of the miR156 target SPL3, which reduces the duration of the juvenile phase and promotes flowering. (E) A plant constitutively overexpressing the miR172 target AP2, which results in late flowering. (F,G) The effects of miRNA target overexpression can be recapitulated by constitutively expressing the target mimics MIM156 and MIM172, which reduce the functional levels of the mature miR156 and miR172 miRNAs, respectively. All plants were grown under long day photoperiod (16 hours of light, 8 hours of darkness). Scale bars: 1 cm. (H) A model of the sequential action of miR156, miR172 and their respective targets in regulating phase transitions in A. thaliana. Abbreviations: 35S, cauliflower mosaic virus promoter; AG, AGAMOUS; AP1, APETALA1; AP2, APETALA2; FUL, FRUITFULL; LFY, LEAFY; MIM156, miR156 mimicry target; MIM172, miR172 mimicry target; miR156, mature miRNA156; miR172, mature miRNA172; MIR156, miRNA156 gene; MIR172, miRNA172 gene; rSPL3, miR156-resistant form of SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE 3; SEP3, SEPALLATA3; SOC1, SUPRESSOR OF OVEREXPRESSION OF CONSTANS 1; SPL, SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE.

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    Fig. 3.

    Regulation of phase change in Arabidopsis. During early development, the levels of miR156 are initially high, promoting the juvenile vegetative growth phase in seedlings. Juvenile leaves (light grey, lower left) are almost round in shape and exhibit trichomes only on their adaxial side. As the plant matures, the levels of miR156 steadily decrease, allowing for the production of SPL9 and SPL10 proteins that promote adult leaf traits (dark grey; elongated leaves with abaxial trichomes). At the same time, SPL9 and SPL10 directly induce the expression of MIR172 genes. Increased levels of miR172 result in the downregulation of six AP2-like transcription factors that normally repress flowering. Release from this repression, in combination with the flower-promoting actions of SPL3, SPL4 and SPL5, makes the plant competent to flower and the transition to flowering can occur. During the transition to flowering, the shoot apical meristem does not immediately give rise to flowers but rather to secondary shoots that emerge from the axils of cauline leaves (black, lower right). In addition to its role as a floral repressor (lower right; from above, bottom; in longitudinal section, above), AP2 contributes to the patterning of the emerging flower. Both AP2 and miR172 participate in establishing a sharp boundary between the vegetative outer organs (sepals, petals) and the inner whorls of reproductive organs (stamen, carpels). Abbreviations: AG, AGAMOUS; AP2, APETALA2; miR156, mature miRNA156; miR172, mature miRNA172; SMZ, SCHLAFMÜTZE; SNZ, SCHNARCHZAPFEN; SPL, SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKE; TOE, TARGET OF EARLY ACTIVATION TAGGED.

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Review
The control of developmental phase transitions in plants
Peter Huijser, Markus Schmid
Development 2011 138: 4117-4129; doi: 10.1242/dev.063511
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Review
The control of developmental phase transitions in plants
Peter Huijser, Markus Schmid
Development 2011 138: 4117-4129; doi: 10.1242/dev.063511

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  • Top
  • Article
    • Summary
    • Introduction
    • The miR156/SPL regulatory module in Arabidopsis phase transitions
    • Phase transition control by miR172 and AP2-like transcription factors
    • miR156/miR172 functions and targets are evolutionary conserved
    • Conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
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