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Fig. 2. The shoot meristem. Scanning electron microscopy of a wild-type shoot
meristem (A) reveals little morphological differentiation, except for the
distinct organ primorida (op), whereas molecular and detailed histological
studies have revealed important subdomains (PZ, peripheral zone; CZ, central
zone; RZ, rib zone) of the shoot meristem (D). The flower meristem gives rise
to a regular number of floral organs and organ types (B), eventually forming
the fruit (also called the silique; C). In plants carrying a mutation in one
of the CLV genes, the shoot meristem can be massively enlarged (E),
as a result of expansion of the population of stem cells (H). clv
flower meristems also accumulate stem cells, resulting in the formation of
additional organs of each type (F), and leading to distorted, club-shaped
fruits (G). (I) A model for CLV signaling. The CLV3 protein (blue) is secreted
from the stem cells and diffuses to the underlying cell layers, where CLV1
(red) is expressed. There, CLV1 binds to CLV3 and activates signaling to
repress WUS expression, as well as to sequester CLV3 to prevent it
from diffusing to the WUS-expressing region. CLV2 (green) is a
putative co-receptor with CLV1. Scale bar in A and E: 50 µm.
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