title: A gene triggering flower formation in Arabidopsis.
abstract: In Arabidopsis, the apical shoot meristem produces lateral meristems that develop into either shoots or flowers. The decision to form flowers instead of shoots is mediated by the action of floral-meristem-identity genes, such as APETALA1 (AP1) and LEAFY (LFY), which specify meristem fate. Here we show that transgenic plants which constitutively express the AP1 gene show transformations of apical and lateral shoots into flowers, and that these plants flower much earlier than wild-type plants. These results indicate that AP1 alone can convert infloresence shoot meristems into floral meristems, and that ectopic AP1 expression can dramatically reduce the time to flowering.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0116, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mandel
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Yanofsky
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D017796:Caulimovirus / Q000235:genetics; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C091535:AP1 protein, Arabidopsis; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C074747:LFY protein, Arabidopsis; D026161:MADS Domain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors