Biomedical subjects

Andrew T Groover

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew T Groover.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

The Populus homeobox gene ARBORKNOX1 reveals overlapping mechanisms regulating the shoot apical meristem and the vascular cambium.

Secondary growth is supported by a dividing population of meristematic cells within the vascular cambium whose daughter cells are recruited to differentiate within secondary phloem and xylem tissues. We cloned a Populus Class 1 KNOX homeobox gene, ARBORKNOX1 (ARK1), which is orthologous to Arabidopsis SHOOT MERISTEMLESS (STM). ARK1 is expressed in the shoot apical meristem (SAM) and the vascular cambium, and is down-regulated in the terminally differentiated cells of leaves and secondary vascular tissues that are derived from these meristems. Transformation of Populus with either ARK1 or STM over-expression constructs results in similar morphological phenotypes characterized by inhibition of the differentiation of leaves, internode elongation, and secondary vascular cell types in stems. Microarray analysis showed that 41% of genes up-regulated in the stems of ARK1 over-expressing plants encode proteins involved in extracellular matrix synthesis or modification, including proteins involved in cell identity and signaling, cell adhesion, or cell differentiation. These gene expression differences are reflected in alterations of cell wall biochemistry and lignin composition in ARK1 over-expressing plants. Our results suggest that ARK1 has a complex mode of action that may include regulating cell fates through modification of the extracellular matrix. Our findings support the hypothesis that the SAM and vascular cambium are regulated by overlapping genetic programs.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2005

What genes make a tree a tree?

Woody growth is evolutionarily ancient, yet has been gained and lost multiple times in plant evolution and is readily enhanced or minimized in eudicot speciation. New molecular genetic and genomic studies in Populus and Arabidopsis that are defining the genes responsible for cambium function and woody growth suggest that the genes regulating woody growth are not unique to woody plants. Surprisingly, key genetic mechanisms originally characterized as regulating the meristematic cells of the shoot apical meristem are also expressed in the vascular cambium during woody growth. This has important implications for the development of Populus as a model species and illustrates why forest trees constitute a contrived group of plants that have more in common with herbaceous relatives than we foresters like to admit.

Biological Evolution↗

PubMed2003

Secretion trap tagging of secreted and membrane-spanning proteins using Arabidopsis gene traps.

Secreted and membrane-spanning proteins play fundamental roles in plant development but pose challenges for genetic identification and characterization. We describe a "secretion trap" screen for gene trap insertions in genes encoding proteins routed through the secretory pathway. The gene trap transposon encodes a beta-glucuronidase reporter enzyme that is inhibited by N-linked glycosylation specific to the secretory pathway. Treatment of seedlings with tunicamycin inhibits glycosylation, resulting in increased activity of secreted beta-glucuronidase fusions that result from gene trap integration downstream of exons encoding signal peptides. In the 2,059 gene trap lines that we screened, 32 secretion trap expression patterns were identified in a wide variety of tissues including embryos, meristems, and the developing vasculature. Genes disrupted by the secretion traps encode putative extracellular signaling proteins, membrane transport proteins, and novel secreted proteins of unknown function missed by conventional mutagenesis and gene prediction. Secretion traps provide a unique reagent for gene expression studies and can guide the genetic combination of loss of function alleles in related genes.

Arabidopsis↗

PubMed2003

IAA8 expression during vascular cell differentiation.

We report the characterization of a member of the auxin-induced IAA gene family from zinnia, designated zIAA8, which is expressed by mesophyll cells differentiating as tracheary elements in vitro. Transcription of zIAA8 is up-regulated within 3 h after cell isolation in inductive medium, indicating that cells perceive and respond to growth factor stimulus early in culture. Transcript levels of zIAA8 remain high through 72 h of culture in medium containing auxin and cytokinin or auxin alone, but low in medium containing only cytokinin or control medium lacking growth factors, demonstrating auxin-specific induction and consistent with lack of desensitization to prolonged auxin stimulation. In situ localization shows zIAA8 is localized to primary vasculature, root tips, and nascent leaves in zinnia seedlings. The observation that zIAA8 is expressed during vascular development in planta supports the hypothesis that expression early in culture reflects early events during normal vascular differentiation. The promoter of Arabidopsis IAA8 drives expression of the GUS reporter in a pattern in Arabidopsis similar to that for zIAA8 in zinnia, suggesting conservation of cis regulatory elements between the species and confirming the results from in situ localization. The vascular expression pattern of the IAA8 promoter in leaves mirrors the developmentally regulated auxin gradient in expanding leaf blades. The expression patterns of zIAA8 and IAA8 yield new insight into vascular development in vitro and in planta, and provide much needed markers for early vascular differentiation.

Arabidopsis Proteins↗

PubMed2003

Phyllotactic pattern and stem cell fate are determined by the Arabidopsis homeobox gene BELLRINGER.

Lateral organs in plants arise from the meristem in a stereotypical pattern known as phyllotaxy. Spiral patterns result from initiation of successive organs at a fixed angle of divergence but variable patterns of physical contact. Such patterns ultimately give rise to individual leaves and flowers at positions related to each other by consecutive terms in the mathematical series first described by Leonardo Fibonacci. We demonstrate that a BELL1 related homeodomain protein in Arabidopsis, BELLRINGER, maintains the spiral phyllotactic pattern. In the absence of BELLRINGER, the regular pattern of organ initiation is disturbed and lateral organs are initiated more frequently. BELLRINGER is also required for maintenance of stem cell fate in the absence of the regulatory genes SHOOT MERISTEMLESS and ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1. We propose a model whereby BELLRINGER coordinates the maintenance of stem cells with differentiation of daughter cells in stem cell lineages.

Arabidopsis↗