From organelle to organ: ZRIZI MATE-Type transporter is an organelle transporter that enhances organ initiation

Plant architecture is a predictable but flexible trait. The timing and position of organ initiation from the shoot apical meristem (SAM) contribute to the final plant form. While much progress has been made recently in understanding how the site of leaf initiation is determined, the mechanism underlying the temporal interval between leaf primordia is still largely unknown. The Arabidopsis ZRIZI (ZRZ) gene belongs to a large gene family encoding multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) transporters. Unique among plant MATE transporters identified so far, ZRZ is localized to the membrane of a small organelle, possibly the mitochondria. Plants overexpressing ZRZ in initiating leaves are short, produce leaves much faster than wild-type plants and show enhanced growth of axillary buds. These results suggest that ZRZ is involved in communicating a leaf-borne signal that determines the rate of organ initiation.