About this Research Topic

Background

Plant morphogenesis is the development of the plant’s form and structure, involving numerous interactive developmental processes, such as growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types organized into tissues and organ systems that build up the functional plant.

These developmental processes (plant growth and cell differentiations) are governed by the complex hormonal network, which often regulates gene expression in reaction to external stimuli. For instance, many higher plants produce flowers. Unlike stems and roots, flowers do not grow continuously during a plant's life. Flowering involves changing the identity of meristems — regions of the plant containing actively dividing cells that form new tissues. Environmental stimuli, such as temperature and day duration, as well as internal signals, also cause the expression of meristem identity genes, which enable the conversion of the shoot apical meristem into the inflorescence meristem, allowing the meristem to produce floral rather than vegetative structures.

The genomic program for development operates primarily by the regulated expression of the genes encoding transcription factors and components of the cell signaling pathways. This program leverages cis-regulatory DNA (e.g., enhancers and silencers) that impacts on gene expression. The regulatory inputs and functional outputs of developmental control genes constitute network-like architectures.

Organ morphogenesis is the process of shape acquisition with the small reservoir of the undifferentiated cell. The process of morphogenesis in plants is intricate and involves various interrelated factors, including mechanical stimuli, biochemical signals, and genetic preconditions. Accumulation of genetic data has promoted the use of mathematical and computational tools for studying the coordinated activity of genes during cell differentiation and morphogenetic processes. Besides, the development of network theory has enabled assessments of complicated systems with multiple elements and interactions.

Reverse engineering techniques that use the genomics data or detailed experiments on the gene and hormone interactions have been used to propose the gene network architectures. Studies on the interactions between genes and phytohormones reveal intricate complexity of even small developmental modules, enabling dynamical studies with clear functional implications for cell development and morphogenesis.

Generalities are beginning to emerge. For example, biological and genetic networks with hormone regulation pathways are resilient to genetic and environmental changes. These dynamic investigations also allow innovative hypotheses that can result in further experimental testing and provide feedback to the theoretical assessments. This interaction helps to understand better how plants develop.

In a nutshell, both experiments on the gene interactions and the theoretical assessments enable the discovery of the frequent or fixed evolutionary solution to developmental problems and thus contribute to an understanding of the genetic foundation of the evolution of development and body plan.

Although the use of model species has greatly improved the mechanistic understanding of plant morphogenesis, there is an urgent need to both diversify the knowledge and translate it to crop species. This research topic aims to fill the knowledge gaps and gain new insights into the current issues.

In this special issue, studies focusing on combinatorial networks of hormones, transcription factors, and miRNAs that integrate environmental inputs with developmental programs are invited. We welcome relevant and high-quality submissions applying this broad array of tools to areas including, but not limited, to:

- Chromatin, Chromosome, and Nuclear Organization and Dynamics
- Mechanisms of DNA replication, Repair, and Recombination
- Nature of Mutations and Mutation Process
- RNA Biology and Function (microRNAs)
- Mechanisms of Gene Regulation from Transcriptional to Post-Translational Modifications
- Developmental Plasticity (Shoots and Roots)
- Abiotic Stress and Plant Architecture
- Genetic Engineering (Gene Editing Tools, e.g., CRISPR/Cas9)
- Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS)
- Nutrient and Energy Signaling
- Cell Cycle and Growth
- Organelle Structure and Function
- Membrane Dynamics

Keywords: photosynthesis cell structure, autophagy, cytoskeleton dynamics, mechanobiology, cell wall, signalling, phytohormones, photoreceptors

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