Evolutionary adaptations to the hormonal regulation of vascular tissue development
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ABSTRACT: Vascular tissues connect shoot and root organs in the vascular plant lineage, providing significant adaptive advantages. Although the crosstalk between auxin and cytokinin in promoting both vascular cell proliferation and differentiation has been well studied in angiosperms such as Arabidopsis thaliana, little is known about this regulation in other vascular plant lineages. Here, we found that unlike the hormonal cross talk found in all other species under study, the lycophyte Selaginella moellendorffii shows clear task separation with auxin driving vascular cell proliferation only, and cytokinin specifically triggering cell differentiation. Using a cross-species transcriptomics approach, we found members of the AUXINs/INDOLE-ACETIC ACIDs (Auxs/IAAs) and CYTOKININ OXIDASEs (CKXs) gene families exhibited divergent expression patterns in response to auxin and cytokinin. Despite these regulatory differences, we show that AtIAA/SmIAA and AtCKX/SmCKX proteins are functionally conserved. Taken together, our findings suggest an evolutionary adaptation to the hormonal regulation of vascular tissue development in which core protein functions are conserved, but regulatory circuits diverged in Lycophytes.
ORGANISM(S): Arabidopsis thaliana Selaginella moellendorffii
PROVIDER: GSE301807 | GEO | 2026/01/01
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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