Cutting Edge Seminar - Sabrina Sabatini:New insight in root meristem size determination and root zonation

UPSC Seminar Series 2014
Cutting Edge Seminar

Speaker:
Sabrina Sabatini
Università degli di Roma "La Sapienza"
Rome, Italy

Title: New insight in root meristem size determination and root zonation

Host: Karin Ljung
Place Lilla hörsalen KB3A9

Abstract:
Understanding the molecular mechanisms through which plant meristems are maintained is a central question in developmental biology. In the root of Arabidopsis thaliana, stem cells in the apical region of the meristem self-renew and produce daughter cells that differentiate in the distal meristem transition zone. To ensure root growth, the rate of cell differentiation must equal the rate of generation of new cells. Cell differentiation takes place in the transition zone that is localized in the distal part of the root meristem, but must be synchronized and balanced with division of the stem cells that are localized in the apical part of the meristem. We have previously shown that maintenance of the Arabidopsis root meristem size - and consequently root growth - is controlled by the interaction between two hormones at the meristem transition zone: cytokinins, which promote cell differentiation, and auxin, which promotes cell division.

New data will be presented on the molecular mechanism by which cytokinin induce cell differentiation influencing auxin distribution and, as a consequence, root zonation