IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-48361-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The peptidase DA1 cleaves and destabilizes WUSCHEL to control shoot apical meristem size

Author

Listed:
  • Guicai Cui

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    College of Advanced Agriculture, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yu Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Leiying Zheng

    (College of Advanced Agriculture, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Caroline Smith

    (Norwich Research Park)

  • Michael W. Bevan

    (Norwich Research Park)

  • Yunhai Li

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    College of Advanced Agriculture, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

Stem cells in plants and animals are the source of new tissues and organs. In plants, stem cells are maintained in the central zone (CZ) of multicellular meristems, and large shoot meristems with an increased stem cell population hold promise for enhancing yield. The mobile homeodomain transcription factor WUSCHEL (WUS) is a central regulator of stem cell function in plant shoot meristems. Despite its central importance, the factors that directly modulate WUS protein stability have been a long-standing question. Here, we show that the peptidase DA1 physically interacts with and cleaves the WUS protein, leading to its destabilization. Furthermore, our results reveal that cytokinin signaling represses the level of DA1 protein in the shoot apical meristem, thereby increasing the accumulation of WUS protein. Consistent with these observations, loss of DA1 function results in larger shoot apical meristems with an increased stem cell population and also influences cytokinin-induced enlargement of shoot apical meristem. Collectively, our findings uncover a previously unrecognized mechanism by which the repression of DA1 by cytokinin signaling stabilizes WUS, resulting in the enlarged shoot apical meristems with the increased stem cell number during plant growth and development.

Suggested Citation

  • Guicai Cui & Yu Li & Leiying Zheng & Caroline Smith & Michael W. Bevan & Yunhai Li, 2024. "The peptidase DA1 cleaves and destabilizes WUSCHEL to control shoot apical meristem size," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48361-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48361-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48361-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-48361-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yun Zhou & Xing Liu & Eric M. Engstrom & Zachary L. Nimchuk & Jose L. Pruneda-Paz & Paul T. Tarr & An Yan & Steve A. Kay & Elliot M. Meyerowitz, 2015. "Control of plant stem cell function by conserved interacting transcriptional regulators," Nature, Nature, vol. 517(7534), pages 377-380, January.
    2. Zhong Zhao & Stig U. Andersen & Karin Ljung & Karel Dolezal & Andrej Miotk & Sebastian J. Schultheiss & Jan U. Lohmann, 2010. "Hormonal control of the shoot stem-cell niche," Nature, Nature, vol. 465(7301), pages 1089-1092, June.
    3. Yanfei Ma & Andrej Miotk & Zoran Šutiković & Olga Ermakova & Christian Wenzl & Anna Medzihradszky & Christophe Gaillochet & Joachim Forner & Gözde Utan & Klaus Brackmann & Carlos S. Galván-Ampudia & T, 2019. "WUSCHEL acts as an auxin response rheostat to maintain apical stem cells in Arabidopsis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Detlef Weigel & Gerd Jürgens, 2002. "Stem cells that make stems," Nature, Nature, vol. 415(6873), pages 751-754, February.
    5. Yuzhou Zhang & Yue Jiao & Zhaohui Liu & Yu-Xian Zhu, 2015. "ROW1 maintains quiescent centre identity by confining WOX5 expression to specific cells," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, May.
    6. Andrea Leibfried & Jennifer P. C. To & Wolfgang Busch & Sandra Stehling & Andreas Kehle & Monika Demar & Joseph J. Kieber & Jan U. Lohmann, 2005. "WUSCHEL controls meristem function by direct regulation of cytokinin-inducible response regulators," Nature, Nature, vol. 438(7071), pages 1172-1175, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jian Zeng & Xin’Ai Zhao & Zhe Liang & Inés Hidalgo & Michael Gebert & Pengfei Fan & Christian Wenzl & Sebastian G. Gornik & Jan U. Lohmann, 2023. "Nitric oxide controls shoot meristem activity via regulation of DNA methylation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Mitchell P Levesque & Teva Vernoux & Wolfgang Busch & Hongchang Cui & Jean Y Wang & Ikram Blilou & Hala Hassan & Keiji Nakajima & Noritaka Matsumoto & Jan U Lohmann & Ben Scheres & Philip N Benfey, 2006. "Whole-Genome Analysis of the SHORT-ROOT Developmental Pathway in Arabidopsis," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(5), pages 1-1, May.
    3. Bihai Shi & Amelia Felipo-Benavent & Guillaume Cerutti & Carlos Galvan-Ampudia & Lucas Jilli & Geraldine Brunoud & Jérome Mutterer & Elody Vallet & Lali Sakvarelidze-Achard & Jean-Michel Davière & Ale, 2024. "A quantitative gibberellin signaling biosensor reveals a role for gibberellins in internode specification at the shoot apical meristem," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Wenpin Hou & Takeyuki Tamura & Wai-Ki Ching & Tatsuya Akutsu, 2016. "Finding And Analyzing The Minimum Set Of Driver Nodes In Control Of Boolean Networks," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(03), pages 1-32, May.
    5. Enric Bertran Garcia de Olalla & Martina Cerise & Gabriel Rodríguez-Maroto & Pau Casanova-Ferrer & Alice Vayssières & Edouard Severing & Yaiza López Sampere & Kang Wang & Sabine Schäfer & Pau Formosa-, 2024. "Coordination of shoot apical meristem shape and identity by APETALA2 during floral transition in Arabidopsis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48361-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.