title: Control of organ asymmetry in flowers of Antirrhinum.
abstract: Organ asymmetry is thought to have evolved many times independently in plants. In Antirrhinum, asymmetry of the flower and its component organs requires cyc and dich gene activity. We show that, like cyc, the dich gene encodes a product belonging to the TCP family of DNA-binding proteins that is first expressed in the dorsal domain of early floral meristems. However, whereas cyc continues to be expressed throughout dorsal regions, expression of dich eventually becomes restricted to the most dorsal half of each dorsal petal. This correlates with the effects of dich mutations and ectopic cyc expression on petal shape, providing an indication that plant organ asymmetry can reflect subdomains of gene activity. Taken together, the results indicate that plant organ asymmetry can arise through a series of steps during which early asymmetry in the developing meristem is progressively built upon.
authors.affiliation: Genetics Department, John Innes Centre, Norwich, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Copsey
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Coen
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D018744:DNA, Plant; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D018514:Plant Structures / Q000502:physiology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; C401222:dich protein, Antirrhinum majus