Polar flow of the phytohormone auxin requires plasma membrane‐associated PIN proteins and underlies multiple developmental processes in plants. Here we address the importance of the polarity of subcellular PIN localization for the directionality of auxin transport in Arabidopsis thaliana. Expression of different PINs in the root epidermis revealed the importance of PIN polar positions for directional auxin flow and root gravitropic growth. Interfering with sequence-embedded polarity signals directly demonstrates that PIN polarity is a primary factor in determining the direction of auxin flow in meristematic tissues. This finding provides a crucial piece in the puzzle of how auxin flow can be redirected via rapid changes in PIN polarity.

The formation of haploid spores marks the initiation of the gametophytic phase of the life cycle of all vascular plants ranging from ferns to angiosperms. In angiosperms, this process is initiated by the differentiation of a subset of floral cells into sporocytes, which then undergo meiotic divisions to form microspores and megaspores. Currently, there is little information available regarding the genes and proteins that regulate this key step in plant reproduction. We report here the identification of a mutation, SPOROCYTELESS(SPL), which blocks sporocyte formation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Analysis of the SPL mutation suggests that development of the anther walls and the tapetum and microsporocyte formation are tightly coupled, and that nucellar development may be dependent on megasporocyte formation. Molecular cloning of theSPL gene showed that it encodes a novel nuclear protein related to MADS box transcription factors and that it is expressed during microsporogenesis and megasporogenesis. These data suggest that theSPL gene product is a transcriptional regulator of sporocyte development in Arabidopsis.

Vesicle trafficking is essential for the generation of asymmetries, which are central to multicellular development. Core components of the vesicle transport machinery, such as ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) GTPases, have been studied primarily at the single-cell level. Here, we analyze developmental functions of the ARF1 subclass of the Arabidopsis thaliana multigene ARF family. Six virtually identical ARF1 genes are ubiquitously expressed, and single loss-of-function mutants in these genes reveal no obvious developmental phenotypes. Fluorescence colocalization studies reveal that ARF1 is localized to the Golgi apparatus and endocytic organelles in both onion (Allium cepa) and Arabidopsis cells. Apical-basal polarity of epidermal cells, reflected by the position of root hair outgrowth, is affected when ARF1 mutants are expressed at early stages of cell differentiation but after they exit mitosis. Genetic interactions during root hair tip growth and localization suggest that the ROP2 protein is a target of ARF1 action, but its localization is slowly affected upon ARF1 manipulation when compared with that of Golgi and endocytic markers. Localization of a second potential target of ARF1 action, PIN2, is also affected with slow kinetics. Although extreme redundancy precludes conventional genetic dissection of ARF1 functions, our approach separates different ARF1 downstream networks involved in local and specific aspects of cell polarity.

Plants and some animals have a profound capacity to regenerate organs from adult tissues. Molecular mechanisms for regeneration have, however, been largely unexplored. Here we investigate a local regeneration response in Arabidopsis roots. Laser-induced wounding disrupts the flow of auxin—a cell-fate–instructive plant hormone—in root tips, and we demonstrate that resulting cell-fate changes require the PLETHORA, SHORTROOT, and SCARECROW transcription factors. These transcription factors regulate the expression and polar position of PIN auxin efflux–facilitating membrane proteins to reconstitute auxin transport in renewed root tips. Thus, a regeneration mechanism using embryonic root stem-cell patterning factors first responds to and subsequently stabilizes a new hormone distribution.