TY  - JOUR
A1  - Knauer, Steffen
A1  - Javelle, Marie
A1  - Li, Lin
A1  - Li, Xianran
A1  - Ma, Xiaoli
A1  - Wimalanathan, Kokulapalan
A1  - Kumari, Sunita
A1  - Johnston, Robyn
A1  - Leiboff, Samuel
A1  - Meeley, Robert
A1  - Schnable, Patrick S.
A1  - Ware, Doreen
A1  - Lawrence-Dill, Carolyn
A1  - Yu, Jianming
A1  - Muehlbauer, Gary J.
A1  - Scanlon, Michael J.
A1  - Timmermans, Marja C.P.
T1  - A high-resolution gene expression atlas links dedicated meristem genes to key architectural traits
Y1  - 2019/12/01 
JF  - Genome Research 
JO  - Genome Research 
SP  - 1962 
EP  - 1973 
DO  - 10.1101/gr.250878.119 
VL  - 29 
IS  - 12 
UR  - http://genome.cshlp.org/content/29/12/1962.abstract 
N2  - The shoot apical meristem (SAM) orchestrates the balance between stem cell proliferation and organ initiation essential for postembryonic shoot growth. Meristems show a striking diversity in shape and size. How this morphological diversity relates to variation in plant architecture and the molecular circuitries driving it are unclear. By generating a high-resolution gene expression atlas of the vegetative maize shoot apex, we show here that distinct sets of genes govern the regulation and identity of stem cells in maize versus Arabidopsis. Cell identities in the maize SAM reflect the combinatorial activity of transcription factors (TFs) that drive the preferential, differential expression of individual members within gene families functioning in a plethora of cellular processes. Subfunctionalization thus emerges as a fundamental feature underlying cell identity. Moreover, we show that adult plant characters are, to a significant degree, regulated by gene circuitries acting in the SAM, with natural variation modulating agronomically important architectural traits enriched specifically near dynamically expressed SAM genes and the TFs that regulate them. Besides unique mechanisms of maize stem cell regulation, our atlas thus identifies key new targets for crop improvement. 
ER  -