Active growth repression of plants under environmental stresses

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25291060
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Partial Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Kakimoto Tatsuo 大阪大学, 理学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (70214260)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 植物 / 成長 / 環境 / ストレス

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Plant growth is retarded under biotic or abiotic stresses. Low environmental water potential generally represses plant growth, especially the growth of shoots. The growth reduction is in part simply because plants cannot grow well, but also in part considered to be an active adaptive response of plants. We focused on stress responses of growth of leaf epidermal cells, and uncovered the molecular mechanisms of growth repression under high osmolarity. The leaf epidermal stem cells (MMCs) is maintained by the transcription factor SPEECHLESS (SPCH). Here we found that osmotic stress activates the MAPK cascade, which in turn phosphorylates SPCH and leads to decrease in SPCH protein level. Blocking the MAPK activity inhibited the decrease in MMC number and the growth reduction caused by osmotic stress. These results highlighted the integration of stress-induced signaling and internal developmental signaling.

Free Research Field

植物成長生理学