Dynamic analysis of epidermal cell divisions identifies specific roles for COP10 in Arabidopsis stomatal lineage development.

Stomatal development in Arabidopsis thaliana has been linked to photoreceptor-perceived light through several components of the photomorphogenic switch, whose lack of function is often seedling-lethal. CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 10 (COP10) is an important component of this switch, its loss of function producing stomatal clusters. Exploiting the reduced lethality of the cop10-1 mutant we characterized the developmental basis of its stomatal phenotype.

Specification of stomatal fate in Arabidopsis: evidences for cellular interactions.

Stomata are bi-celled epidermal structures distributed in predictable patterns providing plants with pathways for gas exchange with the atmosphere. In Arabidopsis thaliana, stomatal formation is emerging as an elegant and powerful model system to study the genetic and molecular control of cell fate specification and pattern formation in multicellular organisms. In this review, we describe the mechanisms that regulate stomatal distribution in this model plant.

Clonal analysis of stomatal development and patterning in Arabidopsis leaves.

Cell lineage has been used to explain the stomatal distribution in several plant species. We have used transgenic plants carrying a 35SGUS::Ac construct that produces clonal sectors to analyze the possible role of cell lineage during the establishment of stomatal patterning in Arabidopsis leaves. The analysis of sectors ranging from two to eighteen cells supports the conclusion that most stomatal complexes derive from a single and immediate precursor cell through a stereotyped pattern of three unequal cell divisions followed by a final equal one.