Margot E. Smit

Stanford University

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Siobhán M. Brady

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Dolf Weijers

Wageningen University & Research

Dominique C. Bergmann

Stanford University

Jingyi Han

University of Nottingham

Carlos S. Galván-Ampudia

Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes

Anne-Maarit Bågman

University of California, Davis

Malcolm J. Bennett

University of Nottingham

François Roudier

Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes

Jekaterina Truskina

Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes

Teva Vernoux

Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes

Cooperative Institutions

Wageningen University & Research

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement

University of Nottingham

Ghent University

Laboratoire de Reproduction et Développement des Plantes

École Normale Supérieure de Lyon

Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie

Stanford University

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Finding factors that enforce the multifaceted functions of FAMA

Nature Plants (2025)

Margot E. Smit

10.1038/s41477-024-01890-x

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Citations (0)

Specification and regulation of vascular tissue identity in the Arabidopsis embryo

Development (2020)

Margot E. Smit Cristina I. Llavata‐Peris Mark Roosjen Henriëtte van Beijnum Daria D. Novikova

Development of plant vascular tissues involves tissue identity specification, growth, pattern formation and cell-type differentiation. Although later developmental steps are understood in some detail, it is still largely unknown how the tissue is initially specified. We used the early

Vascular tissue

Gene regulatory network

10.1242/dev.186130

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Citations (29)

The role of auxin signaling in early embryo pattern formation

Current Opinion in Plant Biology (2015)

Margot E. Smit Dolf Weijers

Cell fate determination

10.1016/j.pbi.2015.10.001

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Citations (74)

A cell size threshold triggers commitment to stomatal fate inArabidopsis

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2022)

Yan Gong Renee Dale Hannah F. Fung Gabriel Amador Margot E. Smit

Abstract How flexible developmental programs integrate information from internal and external factors to modulate stem cell behavior is a fundamental question in developmental biology. Cells of the Arabidopsis stomatal lineage modify the balance of stem cell proliferation and differentiation to adjust the size and cell type composition of mature leaves. Here, we report that meristemoids, one type of stomatal lineage stem cell, trigger the transition from asymmetric self-renewing divisions to commitment and terminal differentiation by crossing a critical cell size threshold. Through computational simulation, we demonstrate that this cell size-mediated transition allows robust, yet flexible termination of stem cell proliferation and we observe adjustments in the number of divisions before the differentiation threshold under several genetic manipulations. We experimentally evaluate several mechanisms for cell size sensing, and our data suggest that cell size is sensed via a chromatin ruler acting in the nucleus.

Cell fate determination

Cell size

Developmental Biology

Lineage (genetic)

Cell type

10.1101/2022.10.09.510391

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Citations (6)

Auxin response cell-autonomously controls ground tissue initiation in the early Arabidopsis embryo

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017)

Barbara Möller Colette A. ten Hove Daoquan Xiang Nerys Williams Lorena González

Plant organs are typically organized into three main tissue layers. The middle ground tissue layer comprises the majority of the plant body and serves a wide range of functions, including photosynthesis, selective nutrient uptake and storage, and gravity sensing. Ground tissue patterning and maintenance in Arabidopsis are controlled by a well-established gene network revolving around the key regulator SHORT-ROOT (SHR). In contrast, it is completely unknown how ground tissue identity is first specified from totipotent precursor cells in the embryo. The plant signaling molecule auxin, acting through AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF) transcription factors, is critical for embryo patterning. The auxin effector ARF5/MONOPTEROS (MP) acts both cell-autonomously and noncell-autonomously to control embryonic vascular tissue formation and root initiation, respectively. Here we show that auxin response and ARF activity cell-autonomously control the asymmetric division of the first ground tissue cells. By identifying embryonic target genes, we show that MP transcriptionally initiates the ground tissue lineage and acts upstream of the regulatory network that controls ground tissue patterning and maintenance. Strikingly, whereas the SHR network depends on MP, this MP function is, at least in part, SHR independent. Our study therefore identifies auxin response as a regulator of ground tissue specification in the embryonic root, and reveals that ground tissue initiation and maintenance use different regulators and mechanisms. Moreover, our data provide a framework for the simultaneous formation of multiple cell types by the same transcriptional regulator.

10.1073/pnas.1616493114

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Citations (83)

De novo stem cell establishment in meristems requires repression of organ boundary cell fate

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2022)

Antoine Nicolas Aude Maugarny-Calès Bernard Adroher Liudmila Chelysheva Yu Li

ABSTRACT Stem cells play important roles in animal and plant biology as they sustain morphogenesis and tissue replenishment following aging or injuries. In plants, stem cells are embedded in multicellular structures called meristems and the formation of new meristems is essential for the plastic expansion of the highly branched shoot and root systems. In particular, axillary meristems that produce lateral shoots arise from the division of boundary domain cells at the leaf base. The CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON ( CUC ) genes are major determinants of the boundary domain and are required for axillary meristem initiation. However, how axillary meristems get structured and how stem cells become established de novo remains elusive. Here, we show that two NGATHA-LIKE transcription factors, DPA4 and SOD7, redundantly repress CUC expression in the initiating axillary meristem. Ectopic boundary fate leads to abnormal growth and organisation of the axillary meristem and prevents de novo stem cell establishment. Floral meristems of the dpa4 sod7 double mutant show a similar delay in stem cell de novo establishment. Altogether, while boundary fate is required for the initiation of axillary meristems, our work reveals how it is later repressed to allow proper meristem establishment and de novo stem cell niche formation.

Ectopic expression

Cell fate determination

10.1101/2022.02.03.478990

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Citations (1)

A network of transcriptional repressors mediates auxin response specificity

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2018)

Jekaterina Truskina Jingyi Han Carlos S. Galván-Ampudia Stéphanie Lainé Géraldine Brunoud

INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH The regulation of signalling capacity plays a pivotal role in setting developmental patterns in both plants and animals (1). The hormone auxin is a key signal for plant growth and development that acts through the AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR (ARF) transcription factors (2). A subset of these ARFs comprises transcriptional activators of target genes in response to auxin, and are essential for regulating auxin signalling throughout the plant lifecycle (3). While ARF activators show tissue-specific expression patterns, it is unknown how their expression patterns are established. Chromatin modifications and accessibility studies revealed the chromatin of loci encoding ARF activators is constitutively open for transcription. Using a high-throughput yeast one-hybrid (Y1H) approach, we discovered a network of transcriptional regulators of ARF activator genes from Arabidopsis thaliana . Expression analyses demonstrated that the majority of these regulators act as repressors of ARF transcription in planta . Our observations support a scenario where the default configuration of open chromatin enables a network of transcriptional repressors to shape the expression pattern of ARF activators and provide specificity in auxin signalling output throughout development.

Signalling

Transcription

10.1101/448860

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Citations (3)

The U.S. Forest Service in the post-NFMA era

Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (1993)

Will Callaway Tim Farnham Elise F. Jones Cameron Proffitt Margot E. Smit

Source

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Initiation and regulation of vascular tissue identity in theArabidopsisembryo

bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (2019)

Margot E. Smit Cristina I. Llavata‐Peris Mark Roosjen Henriëtte van Beijnum Daria D. Novikova

Abstract Development of plant vascular tissues involves tissue specification, growth, pattern formation and cell type differentiation. While later steps are understood in some detail, it is still largely unknown how the tissue is initially specified. We have used the early Arabidopsis embryo as a simple model to study this process. Using a large collection of marker genes, we find that vascular identity is established in the 16-cell embryo. After a transient precursor state however, there is no persistent uniform tissue identity. Auxin is intimately connected to vascular tissue development. We find that while AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR5/MONOPTEROS/ (ARF5/MP)-dependent auxin response is required, it is not sufficient for tissue establishment. We therefore used a large-scale enhanced Yeast One Hybrid assay to identify potential regulators of vascular identity. Network and functional analysis of suggest that vascular identity is under robust, complex control. We found that one candidate regulator, the G-class bZIP transcription factor GBF2, modulates vascular gene expression, along with its homolog GBF1. Furthermore, GBFs bind to MP and modulate its activity. Our work uncovers components of a gene regulatory network that controls the initiation of vascular tissue identity, one of which involves the interaction of MP and GBF2 proteins.

Vascular tissue

10.1101/832501

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A PXY-Mediated Transcriptional Network Integrates Signaling Mechanisms to Control Vascular Development in Arabidopsis

The Plant Cell (2019)

Margot E. Smit Shauni R. McGregor Heng Sun Catherine Gough Anne-Maarit Bågman

The cambium and procambium generate the majority of biomass in vascular plants. These meristems constitute a bifacial stem cell population from which xylem and phloem are specified on opposing sides by positional signals. The PHLOEM INTERCALATED WITH XYLEM (PXY) receptor kinase promotes vascular cell division and organization. However, how these functions are specified and integrated is unknown. Here, we mapped a putative PXY-mediated transcriptional regulatory network comprising 690 transcription factor-promoter interactions in Arabidopsis (

Vascular network

10.1105/tpc.19.00562

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Citations (131)