Researchers determine developmental fate of stomatal lineage cells by two different DNA sequences and transcription factors

Keiko Torii, Principal Investigator/Visiting Professor (Professor, University of Texas at Austin, USA), Nagoya University Institute for Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM * ), Tokai National University Organization A research group led by an assistant professor (at the time of the research) analyzed the dynamics of chromatin *3) in the process of stomatal development in plants, and elucidated the general framework of the mechanism by which stomatal stem cells switch to differentiation .　
Cellular differentiation of plant cells is thought to be carried out by cooperation between command transcription factors and the epigenome (genomic state), as in animal cells such as humans. The research group conducted a large-scale analysis of dynamic genomic changes (chromatin accessibility Note 4) ) during stomatal development and identified two distinct DNA sequences associated with stomatal stem cell status. Furthermore, we discovered that the transcription factor MUTE, which directs stomatal differentiation, and BPC, another type of transcription factor, bind to these two sequences. BPC is known to call in histone modifiers *5) and physically suppress gene expression. In fact, we found that MUTE and BPC work together to physically alter the genomic state of the stomatal stem cell gene region and determine the developmental fate of stomatal differentiation .
The results of this research were published in the December 15, 2022 online advanced edition of the British scientific journal Nature Plants.