Auxin regulates gene expression in Arabidopsis through Auxin Response Factors (ARFs). While most ARF functions remain elusive, patterning functions have been assigned to some, including MONOPTEROS(MP/ARF5), which promotes stem cell formation in the root and shoot apical meristem. Thomas Berleth's group now show that MP primarily functions to counteract the activity of the carboxypeptidase ALTERED MERISTEM PROGRAM 1 (AMP1), which restricts meristem size. Their analysis of single and double mutants in Arabidopsis, reported on p. 2561, reveals that in the absence of AMP1 activity, MP patterning activity is largely dispensible, and that in MP mutants, meristem cells differentiate because of unimpeded AMP1 activity. These researchers propose that MP represses AMP1's activity and maintains niches, an idea that is supported by the two genes' overlapping expression domains: where they overlap, antagonism occurs. As AMP1 transcript levels are normal in MP mutants, this antagonism is not transcriptionally regulated. Moreover, MP and AMP1 localise to different cellular compartments, so exactly how this antagonism occurs remains unknown.
Antagonism in Arabidopsis mediates patterning
Antagonism in Arabidopsis mediates patterning. Development 15 July 2007; 134 (14): e1401. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
About us

Our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 this year. Read about the history of the Company and find out what Sarah Bray, our Chair of the Board of Directors, has to say.
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025

We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register by 28 February 2025 to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues

Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology

In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.