Competitive binding of antagonistic peptides fine-tunes stomatal patterning

During development, cells interpret complex, often conflicting signals to make optimal decisions. Plant stomata, the cellular interface between a plant and the atmosphere, develop according to positional cues including a family of secreted peptides, EPIDERMAL PATTERNING FACTORS (EPFs). How these signaling peptides orchestrate pattern formation at a molecular level remains unclear. Here we report that Stomagen/EPF-LIKE9 peptide, which promotes stomatal development, requires ERECTA (ER)-family receptor kinases and interferes with the inhibition of stomatal development by the EPF2-ER module. Both EPF2 and Stomagen directly bind to ER and its co-receptor TOO MANY MOUTHS. Stomagen peptide competitively replaced EPF2 binding to ER. Furthermore, application of EPF2, but not Stomagen, elicited rapid phosphorylation of downstream signaling components in vivo. Our findings demonstrate how a plant receptor agonist and antagonist define inhibitory and inductive cues to fine-tune tissue patterning on the plant epidermis.