Researchers led by Huanzhong Wang, professor of plant molecular biology at
the University of Connecticut's College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural
Resources (CAHNR) have been working to understand how plants control their
stem cells, specifically those that give rise to vascular bundles -- the
structures that carry water and other nutrients throughout the plant.



In a paper published in New Phytologist, the group sheds light on this
question as they discovered a transcription factor gene called HVA that
controls cell division in vascular stem cells. Wang's group revealed that
when this gene is overexpressed, there is an increase in the number of
vascular bundles and overall stem cell activity. They compared plants with
no overexpression of HVA gene, those with one copy of overexpressed HVA gene
and one regular gene, to plants with two copies of overexpressed HVA genes.
In the group with no overexpression, the plants had five to eight vascular
bundles. In the plants with one copy of overexpressed HVA gene, they had
more than 20 bundles, and with two copies of overexpressed HVA genes, they
had more than 50.



Plants with more vascular bundles are stronger and more resistant to wind.
This could be used to develop sturdier cultivars with the overexpression
mutation, especially in tall, slender crops like corn.



[today.uconn.edu]
t-on-how-plants-grow-stronger/