474 / 2019-02-27 21:15:09

Light regulates stomatal development by modulating paracrine signaling from inner tissues

Stomatal development,,environmetnal signaling,developmentla plasticity,SPEECHLESS (SPCH)

全体主题 > Development

Developmental outcomes are shaped by the interplay between intrinsic and external factors. The production of stomata—essential pores for gas exchange in plants—is extremely plastic and offers an excellent system to study this interplay at the cell lineage level. For plants, light is a key external cue, and it promotes stomatal development and the accumulation of the master regulator SPEECHLESS (SPCH), which initiates the stomatal lineage. However, how light signals are relayed to influence SPCH remains unknown. Here, we show that the light-regulated transcription factor ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL 5 (HY5), a critical regulator for photomorphogenic growth, is present in inner mesophylls and directly binds and activates STOMAGEN. STOMAGEN, the mesophyll-derived secreted peptide, in turn stabilizes SPCH on the epidermis, leading to enhanced stomatal production. Our work identifies a molecular link between light signaling and stomatal development that spans two tissue layers and highlights how an environmental signaling factor may coordinate growth across tissue types.