來自中國華中農(nóng)業(yè)大學(xué)的科學(xué)家從水稻中分離出了一個(gè)可以控制不定根生長發(fā)育的關(guān)鍵調(diào)節(jié)因子基因WOX11,，水稻根系主要由大量的不定根及其側(cè)根組成,，但是人們對水稻根系性狀遺傳規(guī)律的認(rèn)識和了解比較缺乏,。
課題組負(fù)責(zé)人周道繡發(fā)現(xiàn)的WOX11基因通過介導(dǎo)植物生長素和細(xì)胞分裂素的信號傳導(dǎo)來調(diào)控水稻不定根的生長發(fā)育。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
The Plant Cell March 3, 2009; 10.1105/tpc.108.061655
The WUSCHEL-Related Homeobox Gene WOX11 Is Required to Activate Shoot-Borne Crown Root Development in Rice
Yu Zhao 1, Yongfeng Hu 1, Mingqiu Dai 1, Limin Huang 1, and Dao-Xiu Zhou 2*
1 National Key Laboratory for Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070 Wuhan, China
2 Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Université Paris Sud 11, 91405 Orsay, France
In rice (Oryza sativa), the shoot-borne crown roots are the major root type and are initiated at lower stem nodes as part of normal plant development. However, the regulatory mechanism of crown root development is poorly understood. In this work, we show that a WUSCHEL-related Homeobox (WOX) gene, WOX11, is involved in the activation of crown root emergence and growth. WOX11 was found to be expressed in emerging crown roots and later in cell division regions of the root meristem. The expression could be induced by exogenous auxin or cytokinin. Loss-of-function mutation or downregulation of the gene reduced the number and the growth rate of crown roots, whereas overexpression of the gene induced precocious crown root growth and dramatically increased the root biomass by producing crown roots at the upper stem nodes and the base of florets. The expressions of auxin- and cytokinin-responsive genes were affected in WOX11 overexpression and RNA interference transgenic plants. Further analysis showed that WOX11 directly repressed RR2, a type-A cytokinin-responsive regulator gene that was found to be expressed in crown root primordia. The results suggest that WOX11 may be an integrator of auxin and cytokinin signaling that feeds into RR2 to regulate cell proliferation during crown root development.
