title: Organ fusion and defective shoot development in oni3 mutants of rice.
abstract: Maintenance of organ separation is one of the essential phenomena for normal plant development. We have identified and analyzed ONION3 (ONI3), which is required for avoiding organ fusions in rice. Loss-of-function mutations of ONI3, which were identified as mutants with ectopic expression of KNOX genes in leaves and morphologically resembling KNOX overexpressors, showed abnormal organ fusions in developing shoots. The mutant seedlings showed fusions between neighboring organs and also within an organ; they stopped growing soon after germination and subsequently died. ONI3 was shown to encode an enzyme that is most similar to Arabidopsis HOTHEAD and is involved in biosynthesis of long-chain fatty acids. Expression analyses showed that ONI3 was specifically expressed in the outermost cell layer in the shoot apex throughout life cycle, and the oni3 mutants had an aberrant outermost cell layer. Our results together with previous studies suggest that long-chain fatty acids are required for avoiding organ fusions and promoting normal shoot development in rice.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, 981-8555 Japan.
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akiba
authors.forename: Ken-Ichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hibara
authors.forename: Fumiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Katsutoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: Kiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Mayu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Moriya
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Nori
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kurata
authors.forename: Jun-Ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Yukihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D018520:Plant Shoots / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D014885:Waxes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D007210:Indoleacetic Acids; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014885:Waxes
keywords: Epidermis; Long-chain fatty acid; Organ fusion; Rice; Shoot; Very-long-chain fatty acid