Waking up Sleeping Beauty: DNA damage activates dormant stem cell division by enhancing brassinosteroid signaling

Abstract

Stem cells are generally described as cells that exist in an undifferentiated or only partially differentiated state. When they divide, they give rise to two daughter cells, one of which retains its stem cell-like properties, while the other sibling generally differentiates and adopts the cell fate of the surrounding tissue. By selectively killing stem cells using radiomimetic drugs, Takahashi et al. (2024) uncovered a signaling module in the Arabidopsis thaliana root that awakens dormant stem cells to help replace stem cells lost through DNA damage.