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

Abstract Adult mammalian stem cells typically maintain stem cell identity through proliferative quiescence. In contrast, we demonstrate that stem cell maintenance in Arabidopsis bud precursor cells requires active cell-cycle progression. Inhibiting division silences the shoot meristem marker gene SHOOT MERISTEMLESS ( STM ) and promotes differentiation. Whereas proliferation dilutes H3K27me3 levels to counteract silencing. Meanwhile, we identified two classes of transcription factors recruiting polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) to epigenetically silence STM . The balance between these forces establishes a cell cycle-coupled epigenetic “Sisyphus” mechanism that maintains pluripotency. This cell fate switch is bistable; modeling and experimental data confirm that prolonged quiescence triggers irreversible differentiation. We propose that sequence-dependent PRC2 recruitment in plants enables precise silencing of fate-determining genes, while cell proliferation sustains pluripotency by resetting epigenetic marks.