Epidermal hydrodynamics controls water homeostasis of shoot meristems for plant adaptation to terrestrial environments
Water uptake and redistribution represent a significant challenge for plant colonization of land. While vascular plants have evolved specialized structures for water transport, how water homeostasis is maintained in meristematic tissues remains elusive. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis shoot meristem develops within a high-humidity niche. The homeodomain leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) transcription factor ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA MERISTEM LAYER 1 (ATML1) and its regulatory target PIP2;5 establish a water conduit across L1 cells to facilitate hydraulic exchange with the surrounding microenvironment. The ATML1-PIP2;5 module regulates stem cell activity in response to humidity fluctuations and is associated with local adaptation to arid climates in natural populations. Transcriptional activation of water flux by class IV homeodomain-leucine zipper (C4HDZ) proteins predates the emergence of vascular systems, contributing to hydraulic response in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. Our results reveal an evolutionarily conserved epidermal hydraulic pathway that integrates developmental patterning with environmental sensing, highlighting a fundamental role for the shoot meristem in shaping plant adaptation in terrestrial habitats.
Authors
- Tingting Wen
- Ertao Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5178-3530)
- Leilei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7611-099X)
- Simin Bi
- Yimin Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7569-2158)
- Ji‐Ming Gong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2105-0587)
- Tahir Muhammad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5682-2248)
- Zhenquan Li
- Weibing Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2379-5729)
- Mingyue Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3323-3092)
- Minbiao Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9066-4008)
- Yangxuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0356-3098)
- Jiawei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3885-6296)
- Xuemei Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7435-8556)
- Yu Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0220-8203)
- Long Wang
- Zuhua He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6098-7893)
- Lihong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4807-2471)
- Huanhuan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1790-3073)
- Minhua Zhang
- Zhijun Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2323-462X)
- Wenjuan Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9999-4874)
- Dan Teng
- Xianmiao Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5167-6611)
Institutions
- Sichuan University (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Synthetic Chemistry (CN)
- Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences (CN)
- University of Science and Technology Beijing (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Developmental Cell
- Published
- 2025-10-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2025.09.007
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Plant responses to water stress
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.75