Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 2012 |
Authors: | Ikeda-Kawakatsu, K, Maekawa, M, Izawa, T, Itoh, J-I, Nagato, Y |
Journal: | The Plant Journal |
Volume: | 69 |
Issue: | 1 |
Date Published: | 2012 |
ISBN Number: | 1365-313X |
Keywords: | APO1, APO2, flower, inflorescence, LFY, plastochron, rice |
Abstract: | The temporal and spatial control of meristem identity is a key element in plant development. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate inflorescence and flower architecture, we characterized the rice aberrant panicle organization 2 (apo2) mutant which exhibits small panicles with reduced number of primary branches due to the precocious formation of spikelet meristems. The apo2 mutants also display a shortened plastochron in the vegetative phase, late flowering, aberrant floral organ identities and loss of floral meristem determinacy. Map-based cloning revealed that APO2 is identical to previously reported RFL gene, the rice ortholog of the Arabidopsis LEAFY (LFY) gene. Further analysis indicated that APO2/RFL and APO1, the rice ortholog of Arabidopsis UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS, act cooperatively to control inflorescence and flower development. The present study revealed functional differences between APO2/RFL and LFY. In particular, APO2/RFL and LFY act oppositely on inflorescence development. Therefore, the genetic mechanisms for controlling inflorescence architecture have evolutionarily diverged between rice (monocots) and Arabidopsis (eudicots). |
URL: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313X.2011.04781.x |
Short Title: | The Plant Journal |