The shoot organs of plants are built through the activity of stem cell centers, called shoot apical meristems (SAM). The level of SAM activity affects shoot architecture and thus yield in crop plants. This work focused on the molecular mechanisms by which the peptidase AMP1 affects SAM activity in Arabidopsis. The results demonstrate that AMP1 controls SAM structure by limiting the activity of HD-ZIPIII proteins, which consequently constrain the expression of the ERF transcription factor RAP2.6L.     «

The shoot organs of plants are built through the activity of stem cell centers, called shoot apical meristems (SAM). The level of SAM activity affects shoot architecture and thus yield in crop plants. This work focused on the molecular mechanisms by which the peptidase AMP1 affects SAM activity in Arabidopsis. The results demonstrate that AMP1 controls SAM structure by limiting the activity of HD-ZIPIII proteins, which consequently constrain the expression of the ERF transcription factor RAP2.6L...     »