Recently, a research team led by Professor Gao Junping from the College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, published a research paper titled “Transcription factor RhRAP2.4L orchestrates cell proliferation and expansion to control petal size in rose” in Plant Physiology online, revealing the regulatory mechanism underlying the transition from cell proliferation to cell expansion in rose petals.

 

The study found that the transcription factor RhRAP2.4L plays a core regulatory role in this process. The expression of RhRAP2.4L is induced by cytokinins. In the early stage of petal cell proliferation, high expression of RhRAP2.4L inhibits the expression of cell proliferation inhibitors and cell expansion promoters, keeping the cells in a proliferative state. In the later stage of proliferation, the expression of RhRAP2.4L decreases, allowing the expression of those factors and leading to the transition from proliferation to expansion, thus completing the cell state transition.

 

This study elucidates the regulatory mode governing the cell proliferation-expansion transition in rose petals, providing new targets for organ size control in plants and rose flower trait improvement.