Stem cell research is an important and evolving field with implications for numerous medical breakthroughs. Researchers have been exploring animal and human stem cells for many years.
However, it’s essential to recognize that plants also possess stem cells. Huanzhong Wang, a professor of plant molecular biology in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR), UConn, emphasizes the potential of plant stem cells in advancing human growth and development, particularly in enhancing the food supply.
“It’s not just humans and animals,” Wang says. “Plants have stem cells, too, and we should be paying attention to them.”
Stem cells in plants are crucial for their growth and development, controlling cell division and differentiation in roots, shoots, and vasculature. While plant stem cells may not have direct applications in human biomedical research, they play a vital role in ensuring the longevity and resilience of plants.
Understanding how these cells work can significantly contribute to a more robust food supply. For years, Wang’s lab has been dedicated to unraveling the mechanisms behind plant stem cells, particularly those that give rise to vascular bundles, essential for transporting water and nutrients throughout the plant.
Wang’s lab has made a groundbreaking discovery of a transcription factor gene known as HVA, which regulates cell division in vascular stem cells.
The overexpression of this gene has been found to significantly increase the number of vascular bundles and overall stem cell activity.
By comparing plants with varying amounts of the overexpressed HVA gene, the researchers observed distinct differences. Those with no overexpression had five to eight vascular bundles, while those with one copy of the overexpressed gene had more than 20 bundles. In plants with two copies of the overexpressed HVA genes, the number of vascular bundles exceeded 50.
Wang’s discoveries not only contribute to advancing scientific understanding of plant functionality but also have significant implications for agriculture. Enhanced vascular bundles in plants contribute to greater resistance to wind, offering the potential to intentionally breed sturdier crop varieties with overexpression mutations. This knowledge is particularly valuable for tall, slender crops like corn, which is a major crop in the U.S.
“When plants grow taller, there is a risk that they could topple over,” Wang says. “Having more vascular bundles ensures the plant can stand still and resist those conditions.”
While Wang’s lab used a model organism in the mustard family for the study, the HVA gene is also present in other plants, making the findings widely relevant. HVA is just one of many transcription factors in the plant’s genome, and Wang aims to explore the functions of other genes in this family.
“We are interested in studying other closely related genes to find out their function,” Wang says. “It will be interesting to study further how this gene family affects vascular development.”
Journal reference:
- Qian Du, Bingjian Yuan, Gaurav Thapa Chhetri, Tong Wang, Liying Qi, Huanzhong Wan. A transcriptional repressor HVA regulates vascular bundle formation through auxin transport in Arabidopsis stem. New Phytologist, 2024; DOI: 10.1111/nph.19970
