OCTOPUS‐LIKE 2, a novel player in Arabidopsis root and vascular development, reveals a key role for OCTOPUS family genes in root metaphloem sieve tube differentiation

What is it about?

The phloem is the plant tissue which transports sugars from photosynthetic organs, where they are produced, to non-photosynthetic organs. There are two different phloem cell types in which sugars are transported towards other plant organs: proto- and metaphloem sieve tubes. To date, we know very little about the factors that specify these phloem cells. Here, we show that two related genes are master regulators of vascular patterning and proto- and metaphloem development.

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