Cell-cycle-driven epigenetic resetting maintains meristematic cell fate for shoot branching.

In Arabidopsis thaliana bud precursor cells, meristematic fate maintenance depends on active cell-cycle progression, with cell division linked to reduced trimethylated histone H3 K27 and sustained STM expression.

• Why it matters: The work addresses how proliferative activity versus quiescence balances stem-like identity, and how epigenetic states are reset to prevent differentiation in plant meristems.
• What they did: The study identifies two opposing mechanisms controlling STM via PRC2-mediated silencing and cell-cycle-driven reduction of trimethylated histone H3 K27, and tests effects of inhibiting cell division.
• The result: Inhibiting cell division suppresses STM expression and promotes differentiation, and combined modeling plus experiments show a bistable fate switch where prolonged quiescence triggers irreversible differentiation.

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