Peptide hormones influence diverse aspects of plant development through highly coordinated cell-cell signaling pathways. Many peptide hormone families play key roles in stem cell maintenance across land plants. In this review, we focus on recent work in two conserved peptide hormone families, CLAVATA3/EMBRYO-SURROUNDING REGION (CLEs) and ROOT MERISTEM GROWTH FACTOR (RGFs), and their roles in regulating plant stem cells. We discuss recent work establishing downstream crosstalk between peptide hormones and other conserved signaling mechanisms in meristem maintenance as well as highlight advances in peptide hormone gene identification that provide important context for CLE/RGF family evolution across diverse plant lineages. CLE and RGF gene families have greatly expanded in angiosperms, contributing to the complex genetic regulation of stem cell homeostasis observed in model systems over the last 30 years. Peptide hormone duplications have resulted in genetic compensation mechanisms that ensure robust development through the function of paralogous genes. Broad conservation of genetic compensation across angiosperms highlights the importance of these mechanisms in developmental signaling and understanding their regulation could inform broader understanding of morphological diversity and evolutionary innovation.

肽激素通过高度协调的细胞间信号传导途径影响植物发育的各个方面。许多肽激素家族在陆地植物干细胞的维持中发挥着关键作用。在这篇综述中，我们重点关注两个保守肽激素家族CLAVATA3/胚胎周围区域（CLE）和根分生组织生长因子（RGF ）的最新工作，以及它们在调节植物干细胞中的作用。我们讨论了最近在分生组织维持中建立肽激素和其他保守信号机制之间的下游串扰的工作，并重点介绍了肽激素基因鉴定的进展，这些进展为跨不同植物谱系的 CLE / RGF 家族进化提供了重要背景。CLE和RGF基因家族在被子植物中大大扩展，有助于过去 30 年在模型系统中观察到的干细胞稳态的复杂遗传调控。肽激素复制产生了遗传补偿机制，通过旁系同源基因的功能确保稳健发育。被子植物遗传补偿的广泛保守性凸显了这些机制在发育信号传导中的重要性，了解它们的调节可以促进对形态多样性和进化创新的更广泛理解。