Receptor-like protein kinase-mediated signaling in controlling root meristem homeostasis

Abstract

Generation of the root greatly benefits higher plants living on land. Continuous root growth and development are achieved by the root apical meristem, which acts as a reservoir of stem cells. The stem cells, on the one hand, constantly renew themselves through cell division. On the other hand, they differentiate into functional cells to form diverse tissues of the root. The balance between the maintenance and consumption of the root apical meristem is governed by cell-to-cell communications. Receptor-like protein kinases (RLKs), a group of signaling molecules localized on the cell surface, have been implicated in sensing multiple endogenous and environmental signals for plant development and stress adaptation. Over the past two decades, various RLKs and their ligands have been revealed to participate in regulating root meristem homeostasis. In this review, we focus on the recent studies about RLK-mediated signaling in regulating the maintenance and consumption of the root apical meristem.

A CLE–BAM–CIK signalling module controls root protophloem differentiation in Arabidopsis

“…G proteins have been proposed to play key roles in CLV3‐mediated SAM homeostasis (Ishida et al ., 2014). As SAM and RAM share many common regulators (Zhu et al ., 2020), it is worth exploring whether G proteins are required for root‐active CLE peptide sensing to regulate protophloem differentiation and proximal root meristem maintenance. In addition to G proteins, Ca 2+ was reported to act as a secondary cytosolic messenger of CLV3 signalling in the SAM (Chou et al ., 2016).…”

Plant plasma membrane‐resident receptors: Surveillance for infections and coordination for growth and development

“…In addition, the vascular tissue of the primary root, hypocotyl, and cotyledons is derived from the first vascular stem cells. In contrast, the vascular tissue of newly formed organs such as leaves, lateral roots, and stem is derived from the apical meristems (Zhu et al, 2020). The vascular tissue allows the plant to grow radially, resulting in the thickening of the stem tissue (Kitagawa and Jackson, 2019).…”

Shining in the dark: the big world of small peptides in plants

“…Other small peptides have been reported to regulate different aspects of root growth and development. In the meristematic zone, CLE17, CLE19 and CLE40 regulate stem cell fate (Zhu et al 2020 ). In the elongation zone, the TYROSYL-PROTEIN SULFOTRANSFERASE (TPST)-derived post-translationally modified small peptides PSK and PSY affect cell elongation.…”