EPF2 and the Molecular Regulation of Stomatal Development

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Stomata are pores on the surface of leaves which allow exchange of gas for photosynthesis and loss of water vapour via transpiration between the interior of the plant and the atmosphere. The evolution of stomata, and their ability to control water loss, is widely believed to have underpinned the colonisation of the land by plants and their subsequent spread throughout terrestrial environments. Today, stomatal behaviour underpins our crop productivity, and it has never been more important to understand the pathways that control stomatal development and function. Although plants are well known to adapt to stresses such as drought by closing their stomata, under longer term exposure to environmental change they adapt further by adjusting the number of stomata that develop on their new leaves. For leaves to function efficiently the frequency and spacing of their stomata must be optimal, and plant scientists have begun to identify some of the genetic factors that regulate this. We have recently characterised a factor which like the mammalian hormone insulin, is a secreted peptide. Plants lacking this peptide develop extra stomata, and many extra stomatal precursor cells are formed in the leaf surface. Plants manipulated to overproduce the peptide develop almost no stomata and grow slowly. Thus, the peptide we have studied is an inhibitor of stomatal development. In this project we will find out more about how this peptide signal works. We will find out whether the peptide works together with other factors identified as regulating stomatal development, and we will investigate whether it, like insulin, is activated by an enzyme that first breaks it into smaller fragments.