Mechanisms of differentiation and morphogenesis of the ligule/auricle hinge

Developmental boundaries are essential features of complex metazoans, although boundary formation is incompletely understood. The blade-sheath boundary of maize leaves comprises two distinct tissues, an epidermally-derived ligule and a hinge-like auricle, which demarcate the upward-projecting blade from the clasping, proximal sheath. The transcriptomic sequencing were performed to examine the mechanisms of ligule outgrowth and auricle patterning at this leaf boundary.