Molecular Genetics of Cell Differentiation in the Arabidopsis Shoot Epidermis

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0110418LarkinThe process of cell differentiation is the process by which cells become specialized during the development of multicellular organisms. Although a great deal is known about how cell differentiation is initiated, considerably less is known about how these early events control the actual events leading to cellular specialization. The shoot epidermal hairs (trichomes) of Arabidopsis are now well established as a model for the study of plant cell differentiation. The long-term goal of this research program is to uncover the molecular mechanisms connecting the trichome cell fate decision to the generation of the mature trichome phenotype. There is particular interest in the endoreduplication cell cycle during trichome development. The specific goals of the proposed research are to identify direct downstream targets of the trichome initation regulators GL3 and GL1, to isolate the SIM gene and determine its function in the endoreduplication cell cycle, and to isolate extragenic modifiers of sim mutants.