Molecular and cellular aspects of the shoot apical meristems organization of vascular plants

Abstract

Transfer of developmental regulators, such as miRNA and transcription factors, through plasmodesmata represents one of the key mechanisms regulating morphogenesis in angiosperms. This mechanism has been termed non-cell-autonomous regulation. At present it is not known whether this process is involved in the morphogenesis of plants belonging to the evolutionarily ancient taxa. Importantly, structure and symplastic organization of apical meristems in the representatives of such taxa significantly differ from those in flowering plants. The non-cell-autonomous transcription factors encoded by the KNOX genes which regulate functions of the shoot apical meristem may become a promising model to study this issue. Refs 102. Figs 3.