Comprehensive analysis of CLE polypeptide signaling gene expression and over-expression activity in Arabidopsis.: "Publication Date: 2010 Sep 30 PMID: 20884811
Authors: Jun, J. - Fiume, E. - Roeder, A. - Meng, L. - Sharma, V. K. - Osmont, K. S. - Baker, C. - Ha, C. M. - Meyerowitz, E. M. - Feldman, L. J. - Fletcher, J.
Journal: Plant Physiol
Intercellular signaling is essential for the coordination of growth and development in higher plants. Although hundreds of putative receptors have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, only a few families of extracellular signaling molecules have been discovered and their biological roles are largely unknown. To expand our insight into the developmental processes potentially regulated by ligand-mediated signal transduction pathways, we undertook a systematic expression analysis of the members of the Arabidopsis CLAVATA3/ESR-RELATED (CLE) small signaling polypeptide family. Using reporter constructs we show that the CLE genes have distinct and specific patterns of promoter activity. We find that each Arabidopsis tissue expresses at least one CLE gene, indicating that CLE-mediated signaling pathways are likely to play roles in many biological processes during the plant life cycle. Some CLE genes that are closely related in sequence have dissimilar expression profiles, yet in many tissues multiple CLE genes have overlapping patterns of promoter-driven reporter activity. This observation, plus the general absence of detectable morphological phenotypes in cle null mutants, suggests a high degree of functional redundancy exists among CLE gene family members. Our work establishes a community resource of CLE-related biological materials and provides a platform for understanding and ultimately manipulating many different plant signaling systems.
(Via Plant Physiology.)