The PASTICCINO genes of Arabidopsis thaliana are involved in the control of cell division and differentiation

The control of cell division by growth regulators is critical to proper plant development. The isolation of single-gene mutants altered in the response to plant hormones should permit the identification of essential genes controlling the growth and development of plants. We have isolated mutants pasticcino belonging to 3 complementation groups (pas1, pas2, pas3) in the progeny of independent ethyl methane sulfonate and T-DNA mutagenized Arabidopsis thaliana plants. The screen was performed in the presence or absence of cytokinin. The mutants isolated were those that showed a significant hypertrophy of their apical parts when grown on cytokinin-containing medium. The pas mutants have altered embryo, leaf and root development. They display uncoordinated cell divisions which are enhanced by cytokinin. Physiological and biochemical analyses show that cytokinins are probably involved in pas phenotypes. The PAS genes have been mapped respectively to chromosomes 3, 5 and 1 and represent new plant genes involved in the control of cell division and plant development.