A gradient of the HD-Zip regulator Woolly regulates multicellular trichome morphogenesis in tomato

• DOI: 10.1093/plcell/koae077
• Publication Date: 2024-03-12T20:44:07Z
• Authors: MinLiang Wu; XinXin Bian; ShouRong Hu; BenBen Huang; JingYuan Shen; YaDi Du; YanLi Wang; MengYuan Xu; HuiMin Xu; MeiNa Yang; Shuang Wu
• Keywords: Multicellular organism; Trichome

Abstract Homeodomain (HD) proteins regulate embryogenesis in animals such as the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), often a concentration-dependent manner. HD-leucine zipper (Zip) IV family genes are unique to plants and function L1 epidermal cell layer. However, our understanding of roles HD-Zip plant morphogenesis is limited. In this study, we investigated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) multicellular trichomes, type micro-organ plants. We found that gradient regulator Woolly (Wo) coordinates spatially polarized division expansion trichomes. Moreover, identified TEOSINTE BRANCHED1, CYCLOIDEA, PROLIFERATING CELL NUCLEAR ANTIGEN BINDING FACTOR (TCP) transcription factor-encoding gene, SlBRANCHED2a (SlBRC2a), key downstream target Wo regulates transition from expansion. High levels promote apical trichome cells, whereas basal mediates negative feedback loop with SlBRC2a forces cells enter endoreduplication. The restricted high low activities pattern These findings provide insights into functions during morphogenesis.