Conserved Gene Expression Programs in Developing Roots from Diverse Plants

• Published in: The Plant cell Vol. 27; no. 8; pp. 2119 - 2132
• Main Authors: Huang, Ling, Schiefelbein, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England American Society of Plant Biologists 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Angiosperms; Arabidopsis - genetics; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis thaliana; Auxins; Cluster Analysis; Cucumis sativus - genetics; Cucumis sativus - growth & development; Datasets; Developmental biology; Evolution, Molecular; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Ontology; Genes; Glycine max - genetics; Glycine max - growth & development; Large-Scale Biology; LARGE-SCALE BIOLOGY ARTICLES; Oryza - genetics; Oryza - growth & development; Phylogeny; Plant cells; Plant Proteins - classification; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant roots; Plant Roots - genetics; Plant Roots - growth & development; Plants; Plants - classification; Plants - genetics; Selaginella; Selaginellaceae - genetics; Selaginellaceae - growth & development; Solanum lycopersicum - genetics; Solanum lycopersicum - growth & development; Species Specificity; Stem cells; Zea mays - genetics; Zea mays - growth & development
• ISSN: 1040-4651; 1532-298X; 1532-298X
• DOI: 10.1105/tpc.15.00328

The molecular basis for the origin and diversification of morphological adaptations is a central issue in evolutionary developmental biology. Here, we defined temporal transcript accumulation in developing roots from seven vascular plants, permitting a genome-wide comparative analysis of the molecular programs used by a single organ across diverse species. The resulting gene expression maps uncover significant similarity in the genes employed in roots and their developmental expression profiles. The detailed analysis of a subset of 133 genes known to be associated with root development in Arabidopsis thaliana indicates that most of these are used in all plant species. Strikingly, this was also true for root development in a lycophyte (Selaginella moellendorffii), which forms morphologically different roots and is thought to have evolved roots independently. Thus, despite vast differences in size and anatomy of roots from diverse plants, the basic molecular mechanisms employed during root formation appear to be conserved. This suggests that roots evolved in the two major vascular plant lineages either by parallel recruitment of largely the same developmental program or by elaboration of an existing root program in the common ancestor of vascular plants.