Interactions between the Cell Cycle and Embryonic Patterning in Arabidopsis Uncovered by a Mutation in DNA Polymerase ε

• Published in: The Plant cell 2005-12, Vol.17 (12), p.3362-3377
• Main Authors: Jenik, Pablo D., Rebecca E. J. Jurkuta, Barton, M. Kathryn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Arabidopsis - cytology; Arabidopsis - embryology; Arabidopsis - enzymology; Arabidopsis thaliana; Base Sequence; Body Patterning; Catalysis; Cell Cycle; Cell division; Cell lines; Cloning, Molecular; DNA; DNA Polymerase II - chemistry; DNA Polymerase II - genetics; DNA Primers; DNA, Plant - metabolism; Embryonic cells; Embryonic stem cells; Embryos; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Pituitary gland; Plant cells; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Seeds - growth & development; Seeds - metabolism; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Stem cells
• ISSN: 1040-4651; 1532-298X; 1532-298X
• DOI: 10.1105/tpc.105.036889

Pattern formation and morphogenesis require coordination of cell division rates and orientations with developmental signals that specify cell fate. A viable mutation in the TILTED1 locus, which encodes the catalytic subunit of DNA polymerase ε of Arabidopsis thaliana, causes a lengthening of the cell cycle by ∼35% throughout embryo development and alters cell type patterning of the hypophyseal lineage in the root, leading to a displacement of the root pole from its normal position on top of the suspensor. Treatment of preglobular and early globular stages, but not later stage, embryos with the DNA polymerase inhibitor aphidicolin leads to a similar phenotype. The results uncover an interaction between the cell cycle and the processes that determine cell fate during plant embryogenesis.