Patterns of Stem Cell Divisions Contribute to Plant Longevity

Burian, Agata Maria; Barbier de Reuille, Pierre; Kuhlemeier, Cris (2016). Patterns of Stem Cell Divisions Contribute to Plant Longevity. Current Biology, 26(11), pp. 1385-1394. Cell Press 10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.067

[img] Text
CurrBiol_26_1385.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to registered users only
Available under License Publisher holds Copyright.

Download (3MB) | Request a copy

The lifespan of plants ranges from a few weeks in annuals to thousands of years in trees. It is hard to explain such extreme longevity considering that DNA replication errors inevitably cause mutations. Without purging through meiotic recombination, the accumulation of somatic mutations will eventually result in mutational meltdown, a phenomenon known as Muller’s ratchet. Nevertheless, the lifespan of trees is limited more often by incidental disease or structural damage than by genetic aging. The key determinants of tree architecture are the axillary meristems, which form in the axils of leaves and grow out to form branches. The number of branches is low in annual plants, but in perennial plants iterative branching can result in thousands of terminal branches. Here, we use stem cell ablation and quantitative cell-lineage analysis to show that axillary meristems are set aside early, analogous to the metazoan germline. While neighboring cells divide vigorously, axillary meristem precursors maintain a quiescent state, with only 7–9 cell divisions occurring between the apical and axillary meristem. During iterative branching, the number of branches increases exponentially, while the number of cell divisions increases linearly. Moreover, computational modeling shows that stem cell arrangement and positioning of axillary meristems distribute somatic mutations around the main shoot, preventing their fixation and maximizing genetic heterogeneity. These features slow down Muller’s ratchet and thereby extend lifespan.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Development
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS)

UniBE Contributor:

Burian, Agata Maria, Barbier de Reuille, Pierre, Kuhlemeier, Cris

Subjects:

500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany)

ISSN:

0960-9822

Publisher:

Cell Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas

Date Deposited:

22 Jul 2016 16:00

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:57

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.067

PubMed ID:

27161504

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.84113

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/84113

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback