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Root or shoot: Power struggle between genetic master switches decides stem cell fate

Power struggle between genetic master switches decides stem cell fate, growth orientation in plantsThe first order of business for any fledgling plant embryo is to determine which end grows the shoot and which end puts down roots. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute expose the turf wars between two groups of antagonistic genetic master switches that set up a plant's polar axis with a root on one end and a shoot on the other."In what is arguably the most important decision for a plant, setting up the root/shoot axis, occurs during the early embryonic stages," says the study's lead author Jeffrey A. Long, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Laboratory. "A tightly controlled balancing act between two groups of transcriptions factors ensures that they stay where they belong and don't get into each other's way."Plant embryogenesis establishes a very simple structure that contains two stem cell populations: the shoot meristem, which will give rise to all

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