FLOWERING HIGHLIGHTS

A surprising role for ethylene in the regulation of petal cell shape

Beverley Glover

     In a recent paper van Es et al. (2018) reveal a surprising role for the plant growth regulator ethylene in the differentiation of petal epidermal cells. The authors set out to investigate the control of overall petal cell shape and size, observing that, unlike most vegetative tissues, ‘petals … have a morphology that requires differential regulation of cell proliferation and expansion in the basal and distal parts’. To better understand how this differential regulation of the primary drivers of development occur, they studied the three members of the TCP5-like transcription factor family in Arabidopsis. These proteins represent a sister group to the 5 members of the JAW subfamily of TCP proteins, and together these two groups form the CIN clade of the type II TCP family. 

See more: https://floweringhighlights.org/2018/05/01/new-post-flowering-highlights-a-surprising-role-for-ethylene-in-the-regulation-of-petal-cell-shape/