G. Jurgens et al., PATTERN-FORMATION IN THE ARABIDOPSIS EMBRYO - A GENETIC PERSPECTIVE, Philosophical transactions-Royal Society of London. Biological sciences, 350(1331), 1995, pp. 19-25
During embryogenesis, a single cell gives rise to different cell types
, tissues and organs which are arranged in a biologically meaningful c
ontext, or pattern. The resulting basic body organization of higher pl
ants, which is expressed in the seedling, provides a reference system
for postembryonic development during which the meristems of the shoot
and the root produce the adult body. The seedling may be viewed as the
superimposition of two patterns: one along the apical-basal axis of p
olarity and the other perpendicular to the axis. To analyse mechanisms
underlying pattern formation in the embryo, a genetic approach has be
en taken in Arabidopsis. Mutations in a small number of genes alter on
e or the other of the two patterns. The mutant phenotypes suggest that
early partitioning of the axis is followed by region-specific develop
ment, including the formation of the primary shoot and root meristems.
The cloning of two genes involved in pattern formation provides a bas
is for mechanistic studies of how cells adopt specific fates in the de
veloping embryo.