Book Description

Cell division is arguably the most fundamental of all developmental processes. In higher plants, mitotic activity is largely confined to foci of patterned cell divisions called meristems. From these perpetually embryonic tissues arise the plant's essential organs of light capture, support, protection and reproduction. Once an adequate understanding of plant cell mitotic regulation is attained, unprecedented opportunities will ensue for analyzing and genetically controlling diverse aspects of development, including plant architecture, leaf shape, plant height, and root depth. The mitotic cycle in a variety of model eukaryotic systems in under the control of a regulatory network of striking evolutionary conservation. Homologues of the yeast cdc2 gene, its catalytic product, p34, and the cyclin regulatory subunits of the MPF complex have emerged as ubiquitous mitotic regulators. We have cloned cdc2-like and cyclin genes from pea. As in other eukaryotic model systems, p34 of Pisum sativum is a subunit of a high molecular weight complex which binds the fission yeast p13 protein and displays histone H1 kinase activity in vitro. Our primary objective in this study is to gain baseline information about the regulation of this higher plant cell division control complex in non-dividing, differentiated cells as well as in synchronous and asynchronous mitotic cells. We are investigating cdc2 and cyclin expression at the levels of protein abundance, protein phosphorylation and quaternary associations.