Origin and function of stomata in the moss Physcomitrella patens.

ABSTRACT: Stomata are microscopic valves on plant surfaces that originated over 400 million years (Myr) ago and facilitated the greening of Earth's continents by permitting efficient shoot-atmosphere gas exchange and plant hydration¹. However, the core genetic machinery regulating stomatal development in non-vascular land plants is poorly understood^2-4 and their function has remained a matter of debate for a century⁵. Here, we show that genes encoding the two basic helix-loop-helix proteins PpSMF1 (SPEECH, MUTE and FAMA-like) and PpSCREAM1 (SCRM1) in the moss Physcomitrella patens are orthologous to transcriptional regulators of stomatal development in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana and essential for stomata formation in moss. Targeted P. patens knockout mu

SUBMITTER: Chater CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5131878 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature