Old school, new rules: floral meristem development revealed by 3D gene expression atlases and high-resolution transcription factor–chromatin dynamics

Abstract

The intricate morphology of the flower is primarily established within floral meristems in which floral organs will be defined and from where the developing flower will emerge. Floral meristem development involves multiscale-level regulation, including lineage and positional mechanisms for establishing cell-type identity, and transcriptional regulation mediated by changes in the chromatin environment. However, many key aspects of floral meristem development remain to be determined, such as: 1) the exact role of cellular location in connecting transcriptional inputs to morphological outcomes, and 2) the precise interactions between transcription factors and chromatin regulators underlying the transcriptional networks that regulate the transition from cell proliferation to differentiation during floral meristem development. Here, we highlight recent studies addressing these points through newly developed spatial reconstruction techniques and high-resolution transcription factor–chromatin environment interactions in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Specifically, we feature studies that reconstructed 3D gene expression atlases of the floral meristem. We also discuss how the precise timing of floral meristem specification, floral organ patterning, and floral meristem termination is determined through temporally defined epigenetic dynamics for fine-tuning of gene expression. These studies offer fresh insights into the well-established principles of floral meristem development and outline the potential for further advances in this field in an age of integrated, powerful, multiscale resolution approaches.