title: Diverse roles for MADS box genes in Arabidopsis development.
abstract: Members of the MADS box gene family play important roles in flower development from the early step of determining the identity of floral meristems to specifying the identity of floral organ primordia later in flower development. We describe here the isolation and characterization of six additional members of this family, increasing the number of reported Arabidopsis MADS box genes to 17. All 11 members reported prior to this study are expressed in flowers, and the majority of them are floral specific. RNA expression analyses of the six genes reported here indicate that two genes, AGL11 and AGL13 (AGL for AGAMOUS-like), are preferentially expressed in ovules, but each has a distinct expression pattern. AGL15 is preferentially expressed in embryos, with its onset at or before the octant stage early in embryo development. AGL12, AGL14, and AGL17 are all preferentially expressed in root tissues and therefore represent the only characterized MADS box genes expressed in roots. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the two genes expressed in ovules are closely related to previously isolated MADS box genes, whereas the four genes showing nonfloral expression are more distantly related. Data from this and previous studies indicate that in addition to their proven role in flower development, MADS box genes are likely to play roles in many other aspects of plant development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0116, USA.
authors.forename: S D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Rounsley
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ditta
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Yanofsky
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015723:Gene Library; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C532648:AGL17 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors