Abstract
Organization and maintenance of the plant meristems are controlled by the balance between cell division and differentiation. Procambium/cambium is the vascular meristem which continuously produces phloem and xylem tissues throughout life. Previously, we reported an intercellular signaling molecule, TDIF, essential for the procambium function. Phloem-derived TDIF peptide is received by an LRR-RLK, TDR/PXY, expressed in the procambium, which leads to the expansion of undifferentiated cell pool. The TDR-mediated TDIF signaling causes two events for the procambium cells: the enhancement of cell division and the suppression of differentiation into xylem cell. In this study, we aimed to identify the target genes in the TDIF signaling. To this end, we analyzed the relationship between TDIF and genes expressed preferentially in the vasculature, and examined transcription factors affecting vascular development. Genetic analysis for candidate genes is also in progress. Taken together, we will discuss the target genes for TDIF.
