The shoot apical meristem (SAM) harbors a set of pluripotent stem cells that divide continuously to provide cells for the development of all aboveground plant parts (1). A concoction of hormonal and peptide signals and transcription factors, along with mechanical cues, play a role in stem cell maintenance, which requires a delicate balance between cell proliferation rates and rates of differentiation of stem cell daughters (1). The current challenge is to decipher how these signals come together to regulate stem cell maintenance, which requires the functional characterization of regulators in signaling pathways. The same regulators are often utilized for signaling in different contexts, such as development and disease, further complicating the analysis. The study by Wu et al. (2) reveals a role for the G protein β subunit (Gβ) in negatively regulating maize SAM size through the isolation of new alleles that uncouple its function in meristem development and disease resistance.

中文翻译：

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芽分生组织维持和免疫反应信号在 G 蛋白 β 亚基处汇聚。

茎尖分生组织 (SAM) 含有一组多能干细胞，这些干细胞不断分裂，为所有地上植物部分的发育提供细胞 ( 1 )。激素和肽信号以及转录因子的混合物以及机械信号在干细胞维持中发挥作用，这需要细胞增殖率和干细胞子代分化率之间的微妙平衡 ( 1 )。当前的挑战是破译这些信号如何聚集在一起以调节干细胞维持，这需要对信号通路中的调节器进行功能表征。相同的调节器通常用于在不同情况下发出信号，例如发育和疾病，这使分析进一步复杂化。Wu等人的研究。(2 ) 揭示了 G 蛋白 β 亚基 (Gβ) 通过分离新的等位基因在负调节玉米 SAM 大小中的作用，这些新的等位基因将其在分生组织发育和抗病性中的功能解耦。