A Recently Formed Triploid Cardamine insueta Inherits Leaf Vivipary and Submergence Tolerance Traits of Parents

Contemporary speciation provides a unique opportunity to directly observe the traits and environmental responses of a new species. Cardamine insueta is an allotriploid species that appeared within the past 150 years in a Swiss village, Urnerboden. In contrast to its two progenitor species, Cardamine amara and Cardamine rivularis that live in wet and open habitats, respectively, C. insueta is found in-between their habitats with temporal water level fluctuation. This triploid species propagates clonally and serves as a triploid bridge to form higher ploidy species. Although niche separation is observed in field studies, the mechanisms underlying the environmental robustness of C. insueta are not clear. To characterize responses to a fluctuating environment, we performed a time-course analysis of homeolog gene expression in C. insueta in response to submergence treatment. For this purpose, the two parental (C. amara and C. rivularis) genome sequences were assembled with a reference-guided approach, and homeolog-specific gene expression was quantified using HomeoRoq software. We found that C. insueta and C. rivularis initiated vegetative propagation by forming ectopic meristems on leaves, while C. amara did not. We examined homeolog-specific gene expression of three species at nine time points during the treatment. The genome-wide expression ratio of homeolog pairs was 2:1 over the time-course, consistent with the ploidy number. By searching the genes with high coefficient of variation of expression over time-course transcriptome data, we found many known key transcriptional factors related to meristem development and formation upregulated in both C. rivularis and rivularis-homeolog of C. insueta, but not in C. amara. Moreover, some amara-homeologs of these genes were also upregulated in the triploid, suggesting trans-regulation. In turn, Gene Ontology analysis suggested that the expression pattern of submergence tolerant genes in the triploid was inherited from C. amara. These results suggest that the triploid C. insueta combined advantageous patterns of parental transcriptomes to contribute to its establishment in a new niche along a water-usage gradient.

Why plants make puzzle cells, and how their shape emerges

The shape and function of plant cells are often highly interdependent. The puzzle-shaped cells that appear in the epidermis of many plants are a striking example of a complex cell shape, however their functional benefit has remained elusive. We propose that these intricate forms provide an effective strategy to reduce mechanical stress in the cell wall of the epidermis. When tissue-level growth is isotropic, we hypothesize that lobes emerge at the cellular level to prevent formation of large isodiametric cells that would bulge under the stress produced by turgor pressure. Data from various plant organs and species support the relationship between lobes and growth isotropy, which we test with mutants where growth direction is perturbed. Using simulation models we show that a mechanism actively regulating cellular stress plausibly reproduces the development of epidermal cell shape. Together, our results suggest that mechanical stress is a key driver of cell-shape morphogenesis.

The Cardamine hirsuta genome offers insight into the evolution of morphological diversity

Finding causal relationships between genotypic and phenotypic variation is a key focus of evolutionary biology, human genetics and plant breeding. To identify genome-wide patterns underlying trait diversity, we assembled a high-quality reference genome of Cardamine hirsuta, a close relative of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. We combined comparative genome and transcriptome analyses with the experimental tools available in C. hirsuta to investigate gene function and phenotypic diversification. Our findings highlight the prevalent role of transcription factors and tandem gene duplications in morphological evolution. We identified a specific role for the transcriptional regulators PLETHORA5/7 in shaping leaf diversity and link tandem gene duplication with differential gene expression in the explosive seed pod of C. hirsuta. Our work highlights the value of comparative approaches in genetically tractable species to understand the genetic basis for evolutionary change.

Morphomechanical Innovation Drives Explosive Seed Dispersal

How mechanical and biological processes are coordinated across cells, tissues, and organs to produce complex traits is a key question in biology. Cardamine hirsuta, a relative of Arabidopsis thaliana, uses an explosive mechanism to disperse its seeds. We show that this trait evolved through morphomechanical innovations at different spatial scales. At the organ scale, tension within the fruit wall generates the elastic energy required for explosion. This tension is produced by differential contraction of fruit wall tissues through an active mechanism involving turgor pressure, cell geometry, and wall properties of the epidermis. Explosive release of this tension is controlled at the cellular scale by asymmetric lignin deposition within endocarp b cells-a striking pattern that is strictly associated with explosive pod shatter across the Brassicaceae plant family. By bridging these different scales, we present an integrated mechanism for explosive seed dispersal that links evolutionary novelty with complex trait innovation. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

MorphoGraphX: A platform for quantifying morphogenesis in 4D

Morphogenesis emerges from complex multiscale interactions between genetic and mechanical processes. To understand these processes, the evolution of cell shape, proliferation and gene expression must be quantified. This quantification is usually performed either in full 3D, which is computationally expensive and technically challenging, or on 2D planar projections, which introduces geometrical artifacts on highly curved organs. Here we present MorphoGraphX ( www.MorphoGraphX.org), a software that bridges this gap by working directly with curved surface images extracted from 3D data. In addition to traditional 3D image analysis, we have developed algorithms to operate on curved surfaces, such as cell segmentation, lineage tracking and fluorescence signal quantification. The software's modular design makes it easy to include existing libraries, or to implement new algorithms. Cell geometries extracted with MorphoGraphX can be exported and used as templates for simulation models, providing a powerful platform to investigate the interactions between shape, genes and growth.

Cardamine hirsuta: a versatile genetic system for comparative studies

A major goal in biology is to identify the genetic basis for phenotypic diversity. This goal underpins research in areas as diverse as evolutionary biology, plant breeding and human genetics. A limitation for this research is no longer the availability of sequence information but the development of functional genetic tools to understand the link between changes in sequence and phenotype. Here we describe Cardamine hirsuta, a close relative of the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana, as an experimental system in which genetic and transgenic approaches can be deployed effectively for comparative studies. We present high-resolution genetic and cytogenetic maps for C. hirsuta and show that the genome structure of C. hirsuta closely resembles the eight chromosomes of the ancestral crucifer karyotype and provides a good reference point for comparative genome studies across the Brassicaceae. We compared morphological and physiological traits between C. hirsuta and A. thaliana and analysed natural variation in stamen number in which lateral stamen loss is a species characteristic of C. hirsuta. We constructed a set of recombinant inbred lines and detected eight quantitative trait loci that can explain stamen number variation in this population. We found clear phylogeographic structure to the genetic variation in C. hirsuta, thus providing a context within which to address questions about evolutionary changes that link genotype with phenotype and the environment.

Arabidopsis PLETHORA transcription factors control phyllotaxis

The pattern of plant organ initiation at the shoot apical meristem (SAM), termed phyllotaxis, displays regularities that have long intrigued botanists and mathematicians alike. In the SAM, the central zone (CZ) contains a population of stem cells that replenish the surrounding peripheral zone (PZ), where organs are generated in regular patterns. These patterns differ between species and may change in response to developmental or environmental cues [1]. Expression analysis of auxin efflux facilitators of the PIN-FORMED (PIN) family combined with modeling of auxin transport has indicated that organ initiation is associated with intracellular polarization of PIN proteins and auxin accumulation [2-10]. However, regulators that modulate PIN activity to determine phyllotactic patterns have hitherto been unknown. Here we reveal that three redundantly acting PLETHORA (PLT)-like AP2 domain transcription factors control shoot organ positioning in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Loss of PLT3, PLT5, and PLT7 function leads to nonrandom, metastable changes in phyllotaxis. Phyllotactic changes in plt3plt5plt7 mutants are largely attributable to misregulation of PIN1 and can be recapitulated by reducing PIN1 dosage, revealing that PLT proteins are key regulators of PIN1 activity in control of phyllotaxis.

Root system architecture from coupling cell shape to auxin transport

Lateral organ position along roots and shoots largely determines plant architecture, and depends on auxin distribution patterns. Determination of the underlying patterning mechanisms has hitherto been complicated because they operate during growth and division. Here, we show by experiments and computational modeling that curvature of the Arabidopsis root influences cell sizes, which, together with tissue properties that determine auxin transport, induces higher auxin levels in the pericycle cells on the outside of the curve. The abundance and position of the auxin transporters restricts this response to the zone competent for lateral root formation. The auxin import facilitator, AUX1, is up-regulated by auxin, resulting in additional local auxin import, thus creating a new auxin maximum that triggers organ formation. Longitudinal spacing of lateral roots is modulated by PIN proteins that promote auxin efflux, and pin2,3,7 triple mutants show impaired lateral inhibition. Thus, lateral root patterning combines a trigger, such as cell size difference due to bending, with a self-organizing system that mediates alterations in auxin transport.

Key divisions in the early Arabidopsis embryo require POL and PLL1 phosphatases to establish the root stem cell organizer and vascular axis

Arabidopsis development proceeds from three stem cell populations located at the shoot, flower, and root meristems. The relationship between the highly related shoot and flower stem cells and the very divergent root stem cells has been unclear. We show that the related phosphatases POL and PLL1 are required for all three stem cell populations. pol pll1 mutant embryos lack key asymmetric divisions that give rise to the root stem cell organizer and the central vascular axis. Instead, these cells divide in a superficially symmetric fashion in pol pll1 embryos, leading to a loss of embryonic and postembryonic root stem cells and vascular specification. We present data that show that POL/PLL1 drive root stem cell specification by promoting expression of the WUS homolog WOX5. We propose that POL and PLL1 are required for the proper divisions of shoot, flower, and root stem cell organizers, WUS/WOX5 gene expression, and stem cell maintenance.

A Molecular Framework for Plant Regeneration

Plants and some animals have a profound capacity to regenerate organs from adult tissues. Molecular mechanisms for regeneration have, however, been largely unexplored. Here we investigate a local regeneration response in Arabidopsis roots. Laser-induced wounding disrupts the flow of auxin—a cell-fate–instructive plant hormone—in root tips, and we demonstrate that resulting cell-fate changes require the PLETHORA, SHORTROOT, and SCARECROW transcription factors. These transcription factors regulate the expression and polar position of PIN auxin efflux–facilitating membrane proteins to reconstitute auxin transport in renewed root tips.

Thus, a regeneration mechanism using embryonic root stem-cell patterning factors first responds to and subsequently stabilizes a new hormone distribution.

The number of therapeutic sessions in logopedic care: a description and analysis

The aim of this study was (i) to describe the number of therapeutic sessions in logopedic care in the Netherlands and (ii) to analyse which factors determine the number of sessions. An analysis was performed on a data set of 517 patients who received logopedic treatment. Data concerning patient characteristics, medical diagnosis, logopedic diagnosis (in terms of impairments, disabilities and handicaps) and the number of sessions were available. The mean number of sessions was 17.2 (SD 10.7). In a multivariate analysis 19.4% of the total amount of variance in the number of sessions was explained; impairments were the only significant determinant. Language development impairments, aural impairments and impairments of auditory functions were associated with a relatively large number of sessions; impairments in reading and writing were associated with relatively few sessions. Recommendations for the design of future studies on the optimal number of sessions are derived from these findings.