A Shift toward Smaller Cell Size via Manipulation of Cell Cycle Gene Expression Acts to Smoothen Arabidopsis Leaf Shape

• Published in: Plant physiology (Bethesda) Vol. 156; no. 4; pp. 2196 - 2206
• Main Authors: Kuwabara, Asuka, Backhaus, Andreas, Malinowski, Robert, Bauch, Marion, Hunt, Lee, Nagata, Toshiyuki, Monk, Nick, Sanguinetti, Guido, Fleming, Andrew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rockville, MD American Society of Plant Biologists 01.08.2011
• Subjects: Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - cytology; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Cell cycle; Cell Cycle - genetics; Cell division; Cell Division - genetics; Cell growth; Cell Size; DEVELOPMENT AND HORMONE ACTION; Developmental biology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Inductive reasoning; Leaves; Morphogenesis; Mother cells; Plant cells; Plant Epidermis - cytology; Plant Epidermis - genetics; Plant Leaves - anatomy & histology; Plant Leaves - cytology; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Leaves - growth & development; Plant physiology and development; Plants; Time Factors; Arabidopsis thaliana; Plant physiology; Cruciferae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Cell cycle; Spermatophyta; Plant leaf; Experimental plant; Gene expression; Cell volume
• ISSN: 0032-0889; 1532-2548; 1532-2548
• DOI: 10.1104/pp.111.176073

Understanding the relationship of the size and shape of an organism to the size, shape, and number of its constituent cells is a basic problem in biology; however, numerous studies indicate that the relationship is complex and often nonintuitive. To investigate this problem, we used a system for the inducible expression of genes involved in the G1/S transition of the plant cell cycle and analyzed the outcome on leaf shape. By combining a careful developmental staging with a quantitative analysis of the temporal and spatial response of cell division pattern and leaf shape to these manipulations, we found that changes in cell division frequency occurred much later than the observed changes in leaf shape. These data indicate that altered cell division frequency cannot be causally involved in the observed change of shape. Rather, a shift to a smaller cell size as a result of the genetic manipulations performed correlated with the formation of a smoother leaf perimeter, i.e. appeared to be the primary cellular driver influencing form. These data are discussed in the context of the relationship of cell division, growth, and leaf size and shape.