Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41578426›Full record

ArticleThe New phytologist2026

A PLETHORA3/7 transcription factor shapes cucumber shoot architecture.

Merijn Kerstens, Florian Müller, Kelvin Adema, Olga Kulikova, Magdalena Lastdrager, Ben Scheres, Viola Willemsen

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Article in The New phytologist, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Merijn KerstensCluster of Plant Developmental Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-4131-1721
Florian MüllerRijk Zwaan Breeding BV, Burgemeester Crezéelaan 40, 2678 KX, de Lier, the Netherlands.
Kelvin AdemaCluster of Plant Developmental Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0005-6892-1345
Olga KulikovaCluster of Plant Developmental Biology, Molecular Biology, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Magdalena LastdragerRijk Zwaan Breeding BV, Burgemeester Crezéelaan 40, 2678 KX, de Lier, the Netherlands.
Ben ScheresCluster of Plant Developmental Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-5400-9578
Viola WillemsenCluster of Plant Developmental Biology, Cell and Developmental Biology, Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6420-0605

Funding

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek GSGT.2019.019
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

PLETHORA transcription factors (PLTs) are master regulators of plant development. Loss of shoot meristematic PLTs leads to reduced phyllotactic regularity and robustness in Arabidopsis and increased inflorescence branching in tomato. Whether these factors have similar functions in other species is not known. To address this knowledge gap, we integrated phylogenetic, transcriptomic, and genome-wide in vitro binding strategies with quantitative shoot architecture phenotyping of a panel of cucumber TILLING mutants of each CsPLT homolog. We determined that CsPLT3/7 and CsPLT5 are expressed in complementary domains in the cucumber shoot apex. DAP-seq data indicated that both transcription factors recognised an ANT-like consensus motif and bound to SAM-organising genes. We identified strong phenotypic defects in multiple Csplt3/7 mutants. In mature seeds, Csplt3/7 mutants formed a flat apex instead of a shoot apical meristem, from which secondary meristems emerged during subsequent seedling development. Mature Csplt3/7 shoots exhibited defects in internode length regularity, stem architecture, flower morphology, and axillary organ initiation. Moreover, phyllotactic patterns were slightly shifted from a spiral towards a distichous orientation. We present one of the first pieces of evidence that the PLT3/7 clade fulfils both conserved and diversified roles in shoot development across taxonomic family boundaries.

Indexed as

Cucumis sativusPlant ProteinsPlant ShootsTranscription FactorsFlowersGene Expression Regulation, PlantMeristemMutationPhenotypePhylogenyProtein BindingPlant ProteinsTranscription Factorscucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)DAP‐seqembryogenesisphyllotaxisPLETHORAshoot architecture

Identifiers

PMID41578426
PMCPMC12961257

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.