Principal Investigator:

Prof. Dr. Thomas Greb
Centre for Organismal Studies (COS)
Abteilung für Entwicklungsphysiologie
Im Neuenheimer Feld 230
69120 Heidelberg
+49 6221 54-5524
thomas.greb@cos.uni-heidelberg.de
 

Summary:

Although regulatory loops determining stem cell activity are similar in distinct plant stem cell systems, their anatomy as well as their cellular products are specific. One of these niches is the cambium for which we showed that the transcription factor WUSCHEL RELATED 4 (WOX4) is part of an auxin-dependent signaling regime in the proximal cambium domain. In the next phase we will investigate how WOX4 in concert with phloem-derived DOF transcription factors determines stem cell-related molecular signatures to identify mechanisms establishing stem cell identity within the unique anatomical setting of the cambium.