A receptor kinase complex refines cambium activity in Arabidopsis.
He Q, Alhowty H, Paudel P, Zhang X, Wei W
Plant Signaling
The annual rings in a freshly cut log tell the story of each growing season — and this research pinpoints the molecular handshake between two signaling proteins that decides how thick each ring grows and how much carbon that tree can lock away.
Plants grow wood through a thin ring of stem cells that divides outward season after season, creating the growth rings you can count on a stump. Researchers found that two different types of molecular 'door-bell' proteins on those stem cells don't act independently — they grab onto each other and cooperate to control how the stem cells behave. That teamwork turns out to be essential for the whole process of wood-making, which affects everything from how a tree builds its trunk to how much carbon a forest can store.
Key Findings
PXY and ER family receptor kinase proteins physically bind each other, forming cross-family complexes in the vascular cambium stem-cell niche
Constitutively activating PXY signaling caused dramatic cambial defects only when ER or ERL2 was present, proving the two families are functionally interdependent
Combined loss-of-function mutations across both receptor kinase families produced more severe cambial disruption than mutations in either family alone, revealing additive genetic interaction
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered that two families of cell-surface signaling proteins — the ERECTA and PXY receptor kinase families — physically join forces to regulate the cambium, the thin stem-cell layer that makes wood. This explains how trees and other vascular plants control wood production, placing these protein partnerships at the center of xylem formation and carbon storage.
Abstract Preview
In plant development, receptor kinases are often active in disparate cell types, with each requiring vastly different signaling outputs. The ERECTA (ER) receptor kinase and its homologs Erecta-Like...
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Arabidopsis thaliana, the thale cress, mouse-ear cress or arabidopsis, is a small plant from the mustard family (Brassicaceae), native to Eurasia and Africa. Commonly found along the shoulders of roads and in disturbed land, it is generally considered a weed.