title: Role of EVERGREEN in the development of the cymose petunia inflorescence.
abstract: Plants species diverge with regard to the time and place where they make flowers. Flowers can develop from apical meristems, lateral meristems, or both, resulting in three major inflorescence types known as racemes, cymes, and panicles, respectively. The mechanisms that determine a racemose architecture have been uncovered in Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum. To understand how cymes are specified, we studied mutations that alter the petunia inflorescence. Here we show that EVERGREEN (EVG) encodes a WOX homeodomain protein, which is exclusively expressed in incipient lateral inflorescence meristems (IMs), promoting their separation from the apical floral meristem (FM). This is essential for activation of DOUBLE TOP and specification of floral identity. Mutations that change the cymose petunia inflorescence into a solitary flower fully suppress the evg phenotype. Our data suggest a key role for EVG in the diversification of inflorescence architectures and reveal an unanticipated link between the proliferation and identity of meristems.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alexandra B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Rebocho
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mattijs
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bliek
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Elske
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kusters
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Castel
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Procissi
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ilja
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Roobeek
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Souer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Experimental Plant Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: ronald.koes@falw.vu.nl.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koes
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D035263:Flowering Tops / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D018519:Meristem / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D032306:Petunia / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins