Kumari Archana, PhD course student (currently post-doc of Osaka University), Pawan Jewaria, PhD course student (currently post-doc of Bremen University), Tatsuo Kakimoto, professor, of Osaka University, and Dominique Bergmann, professor of Stanford University, clarified the molecular mechanisms by which Arabidopsis plants repress their growth when they face high osmolality, which can mimic drought. Plants, which are sessile unlike most animals, greatly change their sizes depending on their environment. The growth reduction exhibited by plants under stress is considered to be part of their survival strategy, but the molecular mechanisms behind this osmotic-stress induced growth reduction is not well known. The group reports that osmotic stress directly modifies the well-known developmental program for epidermal development. This study was published at December issue of Plant Cell Physiology (published online on Nov 6th）

(Link) http://resou.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/research/2014/20141226_1