NewsMakers: Research

Gene Found That Controls Stomatal Cell Growth in Plants

Plant biologist Fred Sack and postdoc Jeanette Nadeau have identified the gene that controls the distribution of stomatal cells on leaves, key components for the healthy growth of all plants.

The discovery may have implications for enhancing the growth of important crop plants and might even provide an alternative of sorts for research into human stem cells.

Their finding, reported in the May 31 issue of Science, linked the TMM gene in Arabidopsis plants to the formation and distribution of stomatal cells on the surfaces of leaves.

Sack and Nadeau spent several years trying to understand how the TMM gene altered the number and arrangement of stomatal cells on leaves. TMM is only the second known gene to be involved in stomatal development in plants.

"Genes like TMM exist in crop plants such as rice," Sack said. "If TMM has the same function in crop plants that it does in Arabidopsis, then it could be a key regulator."

Aside from its potential importance in enhancing crop plants, the work may be valuable in other ways.

Sack said that while stem cell research has been widely discussed recently, "most people aren't used to thinking that plants have stem cells. But these fit all the hallmarks of stem cells.

"It raises interesting questions about what we can learn from stem cells in plants versus what we can learn from animal stem cells," he said.