SUMMARY Although the number and form of metazoan organs are determined in the embryo, plants continuously form organs via pluripotent stem cells contained within the meristem. Flowering plants have an indeterminate meristem in their diploid generation, whereas the common ancestor of land plants is inferred to have formed an indeterminate meristem in its haploid generation, as observed in the extant basal land plants, bryophytes, including mosses. It is hypothesized that the underlying gene networks for the diploid meristem were initially present in the haploid generation of the basal land plants and were eventually co-opted for expression in the diploid generation. In flowering plants, the class 1 KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEOBOX (KNOX) transcription factors are essential for the function of the indeterminate apical meristem. Here, we show that the class 1 KNOX orthologs function in the diploid organ, with determinate growth in the moss Physcomitrella patens, but do not function in the haploid indeterminate meristem. We propose that the genetic networks governing the indeterminate meristem in land plants are variable, and the networks governing the diploid indeterminate meristem with the class 1 KNOX genes likely evolved de novo in the flowering plant lineage.

Unlike animals, land plants undergo an alternation of generations, producing multicellular bodies in both haploid (1n: gametophyte) and diploid (2n: sporophyte) generations. Plant body plans in each generation are regulated by distinct developmental programs initiated at either meiosis or fertilization, respectively. In mosses, the haploid gametophyte generation is dominant, whereas in vascular plants-including ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms-the diploid sporophyte generation is dominant. Deletion of the class 2 KNOTTED1-LIKE HOMEOBOX (KNOX2) transcription factors in the moss Physcomitrella patens results in the development of gametophyte bodies from diploid embryos without meiosis. Thus, KNOX2 acts to prevent the haploid-specific body plan from developing in the diploid plant body, indicating a critical role for the evolution of KNOX2 in establishing an alternation of generations in land plants.

The shoot is a repeated structure made up of stems and leaves and is the basic body plan in land plants. Vascular plants form a shoot in the diploid generation, whereas nonvascular plants such as mosses form a shoot in the haploid generation. It is not clear whether all land plants use similar molecular mechanisms in shoot development or how the genetic networks for shoot development evolved. The control of auxin distribution, especially by polar auxin transport, is essential for shoot development in flowering plants. We did not detect polar auxin transport in the gametophytic shoots of several mosses, but did detect it in the sporophytes of mosses without shoot structure. Treatment with auxin transport inhibitors resulted in abnormal embryo development, as in flowering plants, but did not cause any morphological changes in the haploid shoots. We fused the soybean auxin-inducible promoter GH3 with a GUS reporter gene and used it to indirectly detect auxin distribution in the moss Physcomitrella patens. An auxin transport inhibitor NPA did not cause any changes in the putative distribution of auxin in the haploid shoot. These results indicate that polar auxin transport is not involved in haploid shoot development in mosses and that shoots in vascular plants and mosses are most likely regulated differently during development.

Many differentiated plant cells can dedifferentiate into stem cells, reflecting the remarkable developmental plasticity of plants. In the moss Physcomitrella patens, cells at the wound margin of detached leaves become reprogrammed into stem cells. Here, we report that two paralogous P. patens WUSCHEL-related homeobox 13-like (PpWOX13L) genes, homologs of stem cell regulators in flowering plants, are transiently upregulated and required for the initiation of cell growth during stem cell formation. Concordantly, Δppwox13l deletion mutants fail to upregulate genes encoding homologs of cell wall loosening factors during this process. During the moss life cycle, most of the Δppwox13l mutant zygotes fail to expand and initiate an apical stem cell to form the embryo. Our data show that PpWOX13L genes are required for the initiation of cell growth specifically during stem cell formation, in analogy to WOX stem cell functions in seed plants, but using a different cellular mechanism.

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