Abstract
In leaf development, a defect in cell proliferation triggers enhanced cell enlargement, resulting in partial restoration of total leaf area. This phenomenon is termed compensation.
How differentiating cells in the tip region of developing leaf recognize the defect of cell proliferation in the basal region remain to be elucidated. Is there cell-to-cell communication with some mobile factors? These issues must be unraveled firstly. Thus, we started to analyze mosaic leaves expressing compensation-related factors induced by CRE/Lox system.
First, we carried out mosaic analysis of KRP2-overexpressor (ox). As a result, mosaic leaves contained two distinct cells, whose sizes were equivalent to wild-type and KRP2-ox cell, respectively. In these mosaics, cell size of wild-type clone was not affected whether KRP2-ox clone is directly adjacent or not, and vice versa. This fact suggested that the compensation in KRP2-ox is regulated in a cell-autonomous manner.
