Publication
Title
What determines organ size differences between species? A meta-analysis of the cellular basis
Author
Abstract
Little is known about how the characteristic differences in organ size between species are regulated. At the cellular level, the size of an organ is strictly regulated by cell division and expansion during its development. We performed a meta-analysis of the growth parameters of roots, and Graminae and eudicotyledonous leaves, to address the question of how quantitative variation in these two processes contributes to size differences across a range of species. We extracted or derived cellular parameters from published kinematic growth analyses. These data were subjected to linear regression analyses to identify the parameters that determine differences in organ growth. Our results demonstrate that, across all species and organs, similar conclusions can be made: cell number rather than cell size determines the final size of plant organs; cell number is determined by meristem size rather than the rate at which cells divide; cells that are small when leaving the meristem compensate by expanding for longer; mature cell size is primarily determined by the duration of cell expansion. These results identify the regulation of the transition from cell division to expansion as the key cellular mechanism targeted by the evolution of organ size.
Language
English
Source (journal)
New phytologist. - Oxford
Publication
Oxford : 2017
ISSN
0028-646X
DOI
10.1111/NPH.14573
Volume/pages
215 :1 (2017) , p. 299-308
ISI
000402413100026
Pubmed ID
28440558
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Growth and development of higher plants (MARS).
Molecular and biochemical changes in the growth zone of maize leaves under drought stress.
The regulation of cell division in the growth zone of the maize leaf.
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 13.07.2017
Last edited 04.03.2024
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