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First published online January 15, 2010; doi:10.3732/ajb.0900102
American Journal of Botany 97: 224-233 (2010)
© 2010 Botanical Society of America, Inc.
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Developmental Biology and Developmental Genetics

A role for leaf epidermis in the control of leaf size and the rate and extent of mesophyll cell division1

Michael Marcotrigiano2

Department of Biological Sciences, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts 01063 USA

ABSTRACT

Little is known about the control of leaf size in plants, yet there must be mechanisms by which organ size is measured. Because the control of leaf size extends beyond the action of individual genes or cells, an understanding of the role of leaf cell layers in the determination of leaf size is warranted. Following the construction of graft chimeras composed of small- and large-leaf genotypes of Nicotiana, bilateral leaf blade asymmetry was observed on leaves possessing either a genetically larger or smaller epidermis on one side of the midrib. Although cell size was unaffected by the genotype of the epidermis, the rate and extent of cell division in leaf epidermis altered the rate and extent of cell division in mesophyll and affected leaf size. The data presented neither prove nor disprove whether the mesophyll impacts epidermal cell division but provide the first unequivocal evidence that the extent of cell division in the leaf epidermis alters the extent of cell division in the mesophyll and is a factor regulating blade expansion and ultimate leaf size.

Key Words: bilateral symmetry • cell cycle • graft chimera • leaf blade • leaf expansion • leaf shape • leaf size • Nicotiana • plant epidermis

Received for publication 9 April 2009. Accepted for publication 13 November 2009.

FOOTNOTES

1 The author is grateful to G. Hackett and B. Chawla for technical support, R. Briggs for assistance with microscopy, R. Fish and P. A. Dods for figure and illustration layouts, S. Herbert and N. Horton for suggestions on statistical analysis and software, and C. Parks for editing an earlier version of the manuscript.

2 Author for correspondence (e-mail: mmarcotr{at}email.smith.edu)


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