Quantitative Live-imaging Reveals the Dynamics of Apical Cells During Gametophyte Development in Ferns

Overview

Journal Quant Plant Biol

Specialty Biology

Date 2023 Apr 20

PMID 37077984

Authors

Xiao Wu

An Yan

Xing Liu

Shaoling Zhang

Yun Zhou

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Meristems in land plants share conserved functions but develop highly variable structures. Meristems in seed-free plants, including ferns, usually contain one or a few pyramid-/wedge-shaped apical cells (ACs) as initials, which are lacking in seed plants. It remained unclear how ACs promote cell proliferation in fern gametophytes and whether any persistent AC exists to sustain fern gametophyte development continuously. Here, we uncovered previously undefined ACs maintained even at late developmental stages in fern gametophytes. Through quantitative live-imaging, we determined division patterns and growth dynamics that maintain the persistent AC in , a representative fern. The AC and its immediate progenies form a conserved cell packet, driving cell proliferation and prothallus expansion. At the apical centre of gametophytes, the AC and its adjacent progenies display small dimensions resulting from active cell division instead of reduced cell expansion. These findings provide insight into diversified meristem development in land plants.

Citing Articles

Single cell-derived multicellular meristem: insights into male-to-hermaphrodite conversion and de novo meristem formation in Ceratopteris.

Yang X, Yan A, Liu X, Volkening A, Zhou Y Development. 2025; 152(3).

PMID: 39817858 PMC: 11883269. DOI: 10.1242/dev.204411.

A conserved GRAS-domain transcriptional regulator links meristem indeterminacy to sex determination in Ceratopteris gametophytes.

Geng Y, Xie C, Yan A, Yang X, Lai D, Liu X Curr Biol. 2024; 34(15):3454-3472.e7.

PMID: 39059395 PMC: 11364212. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2024.06.064.

The 1972 Meadows report: A wake-up call for plant science.

Hamant O Quant Plant Biol. 2023; 4:e3.

PMID: 37077701 PMC: 10095848. DOI: 10.1017/qpb.2023.2.

Cell Division and Meristem Dynamics in Fern Gametophytes.

Wu X, Liu X, Zhang S, Zhou Y Plants (Basel). 2023; 12(1).

PMID: 36616337 PMC: 9823664. DOI: 10.3390/plants12010209.

References

Hong L, Roeder A . Plant Development: Differential Growth Rates in Distinct Zones Shape an Ancient Plant Form. Curr Biol. 2017; 27(1):R19-R21. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.11.028. View

Chatterjee A, Roux S . Ceratopteris richardii: a productive model for revealing secrets of signaling and development. J Plant Growth Regul. 2001; 19(3):284-9. DOI: 10.1007/s003440000032. View

Veron E, Vernoux T, Coudert Y . Phyllotaxis from a Single Apical Cell. Trends Plant Sci. 2020; 26(2):124-131. DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.09.014. View

Geng Y, Zhou Y . Gene Family and Shoot Meristem Development. Front Plant Sci. 2022; 12:800332. PMC: 8720772. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.800332. View

Schindelin J, Arganda-Carreras I, Frise E, Kaynig V, Longair M, Pietzsch T . Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis. Nat Methods. 2012; 9(7):676-82. PMC: 3855844. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.2019. View

Shapiro B, Tobin C, Mjolsness E, Meyerowitz E . Analysis of cell division patterns in the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015; 112(15):4815-20. PMC: 4403164. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1502588112. View

de Keijzer J, Freire Rios A, Willemsen V . : A Single Model to Study Oriented Cell Divisions in 1D to 3D Patterning. Int J Mol Sci. 2021; 22(5). PMC: 7961494. DOI: 10.3390/ijms22052626. View

Banks J . GAMETOPHYTE DEVELOPMENT IN FERNS. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol. 2004; 50:163-186. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.arplant.50.1.163. View

Wu X, Yan A, Yang X, Banks J, Zhang S, Zhou Y . Cell growth dynamics in two types of apical meristems in fern gametophytes. Plant J. 2022; 111(1):149-163. PMC: 9541313. DOI: 10.1111/tpj.15784. View

10.

Kofuji R, Hasebe M . Eight types of stem cells in the life cycle of the moss Physcomitrella patens. Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2014; 17:13-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2013.10.007. View

11.

Geng Y, Zhou Y . Confocal Live Imaging of Shoot Apical Meristems from Different Plant Species. J Vis Exp. 2019; (145). DOI: 10.3791/59369. View

12.

Harrison C, Roeder A, Meyerowitz E, Langdale J . Local cues and asymmetric cell divisions underpin body plan transitions in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Curr Biol. 2009; 19(6):461-71. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.02.050. View

13.

Bartz M, Gola E . Meristem development and activity in gametophytes of the model fern, Ceratopteris richardii. Dev Biol. 2018; 444(2):107-115. DOI: 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.10.005. View

14.

Hata Y, Kyozuka J . Fundamental mechanisms of the stem cell regulation in land plants: lesson from shoot apical cells in bryophytes. Plant Mol Biol. 2021; 107(4-5):213-225. PMC: 8648652. DOI: 10.1007/s11103-021-01126-y. View

15.

Greb T, Lohmann J . Plant Stem Cells. Curr Biol. 2016; 26(17):R816-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.07.070. View

16.

Takahashi N, Kami C, Ota I, Morita N, Imaichi R . Developmental morphology of the typical cordate gametophyte of a homosporous leptosporangiate fern, Lygodium japonicum (Lygodiaceae), focusing on the initial cell behavior of two distinct meristems. Am J Bot. 2015; 102(2):197-207. DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1400333. View

17.

Wu X, Yan A, McAdam S, Banks J, Zhang S, Zhou Y . Timing of meristem initiation and maintenance determines the morphology of fern gametophytes. J Exp Bot. 2021; 72(20):6990-7001. DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erab307. View

18.

Geng Y, Cai C, McAdam S, Banks J, Wisecaver J, Zhou Y . A De Novo Transcriptome Assembly of Ceratopteris richardii Provides Insights into the Evolutionary Dynamics of Complex Gene Families in Land Plants. Genome Biol Evol. 2021; 13(3). PMC: 7975763. DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab042. View

19.

Marchant D, Sessa E, Wolf P, Heo K, Barbazuk W, Soltis P . The C-Fern (Ceratopteris richardii) genome: insights into plant genome evolution with the first partial homosporous fern genome assembly. Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):18181. PMC: 6890710. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53968-8. View

20.

Takahashi N, Hashino M, Kami C, Imaichi R . Developmental morphology of strap-shaped gametophytes of Colysis decurrens: a new look at meristem development and function in fern gametophytes. Ann Bot. 2009; 104(7):1353-61. PMC: 2778393. DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcp245. View