LEAFY blossoms.
The LEAFY (LFY) gene of Arabidopsis and its homologs in other angiosperms encode a unique plant-specific transcription factor that assigns the floral fate of meristems and plays a key role in the patterning of flowers, probably since the origin of flowering plants. LFY-like genes are also found in gymnosperms, ferns and mosses that do not produce flowers, but their role in these plants is poorly understood. Here, we review recent findings explaining how the LFY protein works and how it could have evolved throughout land plant history. We propose that LFY homologs have an ancestral role in regulating cell division and arrangement, and acquired novel functions in seed plants, such as activating reproductive gene networks.
Moyroud
Edwige
E
Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire Végétale, UMR5168, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université Joseph Fourier, 17 av. des Martyrs, bât. C2, 38054 Grenoble, France.
Kusters
Elske
E
Monniaux
Marie
M
Koes
Ronald
R
Parcy
François
F
D002455:Cell Division; D035264:Flowers / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors