The Dof transcription factor COG1 acts as a key regulator of plant biomass by promoting photosynthesis and starch accumulation.

Photosynthetic efficiency is the primary determinant of crop yield, including vegetative biomass and grain yield. Manipulation of key transcription factors known to directly control photosynthetic machinery can be an effective strategy to improve photosynthetic traits. In this study, we identified an Arabidopsis gain-of-function mutant, cogwheel1-3D, that shows a significantly enlarged rosette and increased biomass compared with wild-type plants.

The type-B response regulators ARR10, ARR12, and ARR18 specify the central cell in Arabidopsis.

In Arabidopsis thaliana, the female gametophyte consists of two synergid cells, an egg cell, a diploid central cell, and three antipodal cells. CYTOKININ INDEPENDENT 1 (CKI1), a histidine kinase constitutively activating the cytokinin signaling pathway, specifies the central cell and restricts the egg cell. However, the mechanism regulating CKI1-dependent central cell specification is largely unknown.

Regulation of Brassinosteroid Homeostasis in Higher Plants.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are known as one of the major classes of phytohormones essential for various processes during normal plant growth, development, and adaptations to biotic and abiotic stresses. Significant progress has been achieved on revealing mechanisms regulating BR biosynthesis, catabolism, and signaling in many crops and in model plant . It is known that BRs control plant growth and development in a dosage-dependent manner.

CIK Receptor Kinases Determine Cell Fate Specification during Early Anther Development in Arabidopsis.

Appropriate cell division and differentiation ensure normal anther development in angiosperms. BARELY ANY MERISTEM 1/2 (BAM1/2) and RECEPTOR-LIKE PROTEIN KINASE2 (RPK2), two groups of leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinases, are required for early anther cell specification. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these two RLK-mediated signaling pathways.

Receptor-like protein kinases: Key regulators controlling root hair development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Root hairs are tubular outgrowths specifically differentiated from epidermal cells in a differentiation zone. The formation of root hairs greatly increases the surface area of a root and maximizes its ability to absorb water and inorganic nutrients essential for plant growth and development. Root hair development is strictly regulated by intracellular and intercellular signal communications.

A group of receptor kinases are essential for CLAVATA signalling to maintain stem cell homeostasis.

Continuous organ initiation and outgrowth in plants relies on the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells maintained by the CLAVATA (CLV)-WUSCHEL (WUS) negative-feedback loop. Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinases (LRR-RLKs), including CLV1, BARELY ANY MERISTEMS and RECEPTOR-LIKE PROTEIN KINASE 2 (RPK2), a receptor-like protein CLV2 and a pseudokinase CORYNE (CRN) are involved in the perception of the CLV3 signal to repress WUS expression. WUS, a homeodomain transcription factor, in turn directly activates CLV3 expression and promotes stem cell activity in the shoot apical meristem.

Brassinosteroid Biosynthesis Is Modulated via a Transcription Factor Cascade of COG1, PIF4, and PIF5.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are essential phytohormones regulating various developmental and physiological processes during normal growth and development. () was identified as an activation-tagged genetic modifier of , an intermediate BR receptor mutant in Arabidopsis (). encodes a Dof-type transcription factor found previously to act as a negative regulator of the phytochrome signaling pathway.

RGF1 INSENSITIVE 1 to 5, a group of LRR receptor-like kinases, are essential for the perception of root meristem growth factor 1 in Arabidopsis thaliana.

RGF1, a secreted peptide hormone, plays key roles in root meristem development in Arabidopsis. Previous studies indicated that a functional RGF1 needs to be sulfated at a tyrosine residue by a tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase and that RGF1 regulates the root meristem activity mainly via two downstream transcription factors, PLETHORA 1 (PLT1) and PLT2. How extracellular RGF1 is perceived by a plant cell, however, is unclear.

Brassinosteroids Regulate Root Growth, Development, and Symbiosis.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are natural plant hormones critical for growth and development. BR deficient or signaling mutants show significantly shortened root phenotypes. However, for a long time, it was thought that these phenotypes were solely caused by reduced cell elongation in the mutant roots.

Somatic embryogenesis receptor kinases control root development mainly via brassinosteroid-independent actions in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Brassinosteroids (BRs), a group of plant steroidal hormones, play critical roles in many aspects of plant growth and development. Previous studies showed that BRI1-mediated BR signaling regulates cell division and differentiation during Arabidopsis root development via interplaying with auxin and other phytohormones. Arabidopsis somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinases (SERKs), as co-receptors of BRI1, were found to play a fundamental role in an early activation step of BR signaling pathway.