A Conserved Molecular Framework for Compound Leaf Development
Abstract
Diversity in leaf shape is produced by alterations of the margin: for example, deep dissection leads to leaflet formation and less-pronounced incision results in serrations or lobes. By combining gene silencing and mutant analyses in four distantly related eudicot species, we show that reducing the function of NAM / CUC boundary genes ( NO APICAL MERISTEM and CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON ) leads to a suppression of all marginal outgrowths and to fewer and fused leaflets. We propose that NAM/CUC genes promote formation of a boundary domain that delimits leaflets. This domain has a dual role promoting leaflet separation locally and leaflet formation at distance. In this manner, boundaries of compound leaves resemble boundaries functioning during animal development.
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In complex-leaved species, boundary zones separate individual leaflets from each other.
“In complex-leaved species, boundary zones separate individual leaflets from each other (Blein et al., 2008).”
From <i>Divide et impera</i>: boundaries shape the plant body and initiate new meristems (2016) · cites this paper as Blein et al., 2008
Reduction in expression of three orthologous CUC genes from Cardamine hirsuta leads to formation of fused leaflets, resulting in a simpler leaf.
“Similarly, a reduction in the expression of three orthologous CUC genes from Cardamine hirsuta leads to the formation of fused leaflets, resulting in a simpler leaf (Blein et al., 2008).”
From <i>Divide et impera</i>: boundaries shape the plant body and initiate new meristems (2016) · cites this paper as Blein et al., 2008
In several compound-leaf species, CUC/GOB orthologous genes are expressed in the boundary of leaflets and down-regulation of their expression results in simplification of leaf architecture.
“In several compound-leaf species, CUC/GOB orthologous genes are expressed in the boundary of leaflets and down-regulation of their expression results in simplification of leaf architecture (Blein et al., 2008;Berger et al., 2009;Cheng et al., 2012; Fig. 2d).”
From <i>Divide et impera</i>: boundaries shape the plant body and initiate new meristems (2016) · cites this paper as Blein et al., 2008
NAM/CUC3 gene expression in the distal leaflet boundary is evolutionarily conserved in many compound leaved species, such as Aquilegia caerulea, S. tuberosum, C. hirsuta, P. sativum and C. pratensis.
“NAM/ CUC3 gene expression in the distal leaflet boundary is evolutionarily conserved in many compound leaved species, such as Aquilegia caerulea, S. tuberosum, C. hirsuta, P. sativum and C. pratensis (Blein et al., 2008;Berger et al., 2009;Rossmann et al., 2015).”
From <i>Divide et impera</i>: boundaries shape the plant body and initiate new meristems (2016) · cites this paper as Blein et al., 2008
CUC/GOB genes restrict growth in the boundary zones between initiating leaflets and promote the development of separated units in a complex leaf.
“Similar to their activity at the margin of Arabidopsis leaves, CUC/GOB genes restrict growth in the boundary zones between initiating leaflets and promote, thereby, the development of separated units in a complex leaf.”
From <i>Divide et impera</i>: boundaries shape the plant body and initiate new meristems (2016) · cites this paper as Blein et al., 2008
Cites
Genes involved in organ separation in Arabidopsis: an analysis of the cup-shaped cotyledon mutant.
Aida, M., Ishida, T., Fukaki, H., Fujisawa, H., & Tasaka, M. (1997) · The Plant Cell · doi:10.1105/tpc.9.6.841 · Cited by 1,486 · see citing works
Souer, E., van Houwelingen, A., Kloos, D., Mol, J., & Koes, R. (1996) · Cell · doi:10.1016/s0092-8674(00)81093-4 · Cited by 1,059 · see citing works
Meristem maintenance and compound-leaf patterning utilize common genetic mechanisms in tomato
Brand, A., Shirding, N., Shleizer, S., & Ori, N. (2007) · Planta · doi:10.1007/s00425-007-0540-0 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
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<i>Divide et impera</i>: boundaries shape the plant body and initiate new meristems
Wang, Q., Hasson, A., Rossmann, S., & Theres, K. (2016) · New Phytologist · doi:10.1111/nph.13641 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Gene expression patterns in seed plant shoot meristems and leaves: homoplasy or homology?
Floyd, S. K., & Bowman, J. L. (2010) · Journal of Plant Research · doi:10.1007/s10265-009-0256-2 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
- Authors
- Blein, T., Pulido, A., Vialette-Guiraud, A., Nikovics, K., Morin, H., Hay, A., Johansen, I. E., Tsiantis, M., & Laufs, P.
- Affiliations
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire, Institut Jean Pierre Bourgin, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), 78026 Versailles Cedex, France.
- Corresponding author
- Nikovics, Krisztina
- Laufs, Patrick
- ORCID
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2008-12-19
- Volume
- 322
- Issue
- 5909
- Pages
- 1835-1839
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2021942256
- Cited by
- 360
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 31.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Molecular Biology Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Developmental Biology and Gene Regulation
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Leaf Properties and Growth Measurement
- Keywords
- compound leaf development, leaf margin, serrations, lobes, gene silencing, mutant analysis
- MeSH terms
- Amino Acid Sequence, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Plant Proteins, Solanum tuberosum, Transcription Factors, Genes, Plant, Gene Expression Regulation, Plant, Plant Leaves, Pisum sativum, Solanum lycopersicum, Gene Silencing, Gene Expression Profiling, Plants, Genetically Modified, Cardamine, Aquilegia
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