Characterization and transcriptional profiles of two rice MADS-box genes.
The plant MADS-box gene family plays a key role in plant development, especially in flower development. We designed degenerate primer according to the MADS-box conserved region and isolated two cDNA from rice, FDRMADS6 and FDRMADS7, which are homologous to AP1. RT-PCR expression analyses by using total RNA isolated from root, shoot and flower showed that the FDRMADS6 transcript was detectable only in flower while FDRMADS7 was expressed in all three tissues. In situ hybridization experiments indicated that at the early stage of rice flower development, the transcripts of FDRMADS6 and FDRMADS7 were detected in the spikelet apical meristem, which were same as AP1. At the late stage, when flower organ primordia started differentiating, the expression of FDRMADS6 appeared to be specifically localized in developing stamens and the pistil primordia, while the transcripts of FDRMADS7 were detectable abundantly throughout the organ primordia. Our results suggest the two MADS-box genes may be members of the AP1 family, but may have different functions.
Jia
H
Department of Biochemistry, Fudan University, Shanghai, PR China
Chen
R
Cong
B
Cao
K
Sun
C
Luo
D