A molecular hub regulating root stem cell replenishment in Arabidopsis

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Yvonne Stahl
• Subject Area: Plant Cell and Developmental Biology
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 432468382

One of the most important questions in plant root development is how stem cell homeostasis is regulated in the root in response to the many different external and internal cues. The root’s stem cell pool has to be maintained and from time to time replenished by coordinated divisions of the quiescent center (QC) cells when stem cells are lost due to differentiation or different stresses, e.g. genotoxicity. A multitude of different factors such as phytohormones and transcriptional regulators are known to play important roles in regulating QC divisions, and therefore stem cell replenishment. Still, most of the interconnections of the many different factors are largely unknown. In this proposed project, we aim to scrutinize newly emerging links of some local and some more general regulators of stem cell replenishment. Furthermore, the localization of transcriptional regulators in differential sub-nuclear domains will be analyzed for their function in the necessary fine-tuned balance of stem cell maintenance and differentiation. Taken together, in this project we aim to uncover the highly interleaved regulation and interaction of different transcriptional regulators involved in root stem cell replenishment.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants