title: NEEDLY, a Pinus radiata ortholog of FLORICAULA/LEAFY genes, expressed in both reproductive and vegetative meristems.
abstract: The LEAFY/FLORICAULA genes from Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum are necessary for normal flower development and play a key role in diverse angiosperm species. A homologue of these flower meristem-identity genes, NEEDLY (NLY), has been identified in Pinus radiata. Although the NLY protein shares extensive sequence similarity with its angiosperm counterparts, it is lacking the proline-rich and acidic motifs thought to function as transcriptional activation domains. NLY already is expressed during vegetative development at least 5 years before the transition to the reproductive phase. Expression of NLY in transgenic Arabidopsis promotes floral fate, demonstrating that, despite its sequence divergence, NLY encodes a functional ortholog of the FLORICAULA/LEAFY genes of angiosperms. Expression of the LFY::NLY transgene can largely complement the defects in flower development caused by a severe lfy allele.
authors.affiliation: ForBio Research, 50 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia. a.mouradov@forbio.com.au
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mouradov
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Glassick
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamdorf
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marla
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Teasdale
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins