Glutathione accelerates the cell cycle and cellular reprogramming in plant regeneration

Seminar Details

Host: Dr. Juan Dong

Time: 4:00pm-5:00pm

Location: BICH 108

Seminar Abstract

Plants have an exceptional ability to regenerate damaged or lost organs with fidelity. This process requires coordinated cell divisions and cell identity changes to place the correct cell types in the right place at the right time. Plant organs can regenerate even in contexts where all stem cells are removed and where tissue patterning is disturbed, as is the case upon root apical meristem excision. Recently, the Birnbaum lab observed that cells divide significantly faster during root regeneration and that inhibiting the cell cycle halts cellular reprogramming. Yet questions remain regarding how cell cycle progression facilitates cell identity changes during regeneration. By creating multiple orthogonal, cell cycle phase-specific transcriptional datasets as well as long-term time-lapse microscopy movies, we identify a potential role for the metabolite glutathione as a moderator of fast divisions during regeneration. This, in turn, may mediate cellular reprogramming efficiency and could be linked to tissue repatterning. Finally, we find previously unreported cell type-specific patterning of glutathione production and storage, which may act as a glutathione source during organ growth and repair. In addition to these findings, I will present future directions this work inspired that I will address in my independent group focused on how GSH influences development via subcellular localization and protein interactions.