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Control of cell fate during axillary meristem initiation

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Abstract

Axillary meristems (AMs) are located in the leaf axil and can establish new growth axes. Whereas their neighboring cells are differentiated, the undifferentiated cells in the AM endow the AM with the same developmental potential as the shoot apical meristem. The AM is, therefore, an excellent system to study stem cell fate maintenance in plants. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of AM initiation. Recent findings have shown that AMs derive from a stem cell lineage that is maintained in the leaf axil. This review covers AM progenitor cell fate maintenance, reactivation, and meristem establishment. We also highlight recent work that links transcription factors, phytohormones, and epigenetic regulation to AM initiation.

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Acknowledgements

We apologize to those authors whose work could not be cited due to space limitations. Research in our laboratory is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 31430010, 31825002, and 31861130355), the Frontier Science Key Research Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant ZDBS-LY-SM012), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDA24020203), and a Royal Society Newton Advanced Fellowship (NAF\R1\180125).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics and National Center for Plant Gene Research (Beijing), Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xiuwei Cao & Yuling Jiao

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiuwei Cao & Yuling Jiao

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Cao, X., Jiao, Y. Control of cell fate during axillary meristem initiation. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 77, 2343–2354 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-019-03407-8

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