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ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS AND ADAPTATION TO STRESS

Association of Specific Expansins with Growth in Maize Leaves Is Maintained under Environmental, Genetic, and Developmental Sources of Variation^{1,[C],[W],[OA]}

Laboratoire d'Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environmentaux, Unité Mixte de Recherche 759, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique, F–34060 Montpellier, France (B.M., G.B., B.R., C.B., G.R., F.T.); Reproduction et Développement des Plantes, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5667, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, F–69364 Lyon, France (A.M., P.C., P.R.); and Plateau d'Histocytologie et Imagerie Cellulaire Végétale, Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, F–34398 Montpellier, France (G.C.)

We aimed to evaluate whether changes in maize (Zea mays) leaf expansion rate in response to environmental stimuli or developmental gradients are mediated by common or specific expansins, a class of proteins known to enhance cell wall extensibility. Among the 33 maize expansin or putative expansin genes analyzed, 19 were preferentially expressed at some point of the leaf elongation zone and these expansins could be organized into three clusters related to cell division, maximal leaf expansion, and cell wall differentiation. Further analysis of the spatial distribution of expression was carried out for three expansins in leaves displaying a large range of expansion rates due to water deficit, genotype, and leaf developmental stage. With most sources of variation, the three genes showed similar changes in expression and consistent association with changes in leaf expansion. Moreover, our analysis also suggested preferential association of each expansin with elongation, widening, or both of these processes. Finally, using in situ hybridization, expression of two of these genes was increased in load-bearing tissues such as the epidermis and differentiating xylem. Together, these results suggest that some expansins may be preferentially related to elongation and widening after integrating several spatial, environmental, genetic, and developmental cues.

² Present address: Laboratoire de Biologie des Semences, Unité Mixte de Recherche 204, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Institut National Agronomique de Paris-Grignon, 78026 Versailles, France.

³ Present address: Swiss College of Agriculture, CH–3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland.

⁴ Present address: Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo, 06600 Mexico City, Mexico.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Bertrand Muller (bertrand.muller{at}montpellier.inra.fr).

^[C] Some figures in this article are displayed in color online but in black and white in the print edition.

^[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

^[OA] Open Access articles can be viewed online without a subscription.

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.106.087494

^* Corresponding author; e-mail bertrand.muller{at}montpellier.inra.fr; fax 33–(0)467–522116.

Received July 28, 2006; accepted October 31, 2006; published November 10, 2006.

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