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Overexpression of a petunia zinc‐finger gene alters cytokinin metabolism and plant forms
Author(s) -
Nakagawa Hitoshi,
Jiang ChangJie,
Sakakibara Hitoshi,
Kojima Mikiko,
Honda Ichiro,
Ajisaka Hidetoshi,
Nishijima Takaaki,
Koshioka Masaji,
Homma Tamaki,
Mander Lewis N.,
Takatsuji Hiroshi
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-313x.2004.02316.x
Subject(s) - petunia , biology , cytokinin , shoot , botany , arabidopsis , gene , mutant , biochemistry , auxin
Summary Shoot branching and plant height are among the key factors that define the overall architecture of plants. We found that overexpression of a cDNA for a zinc‐finger protein of petunia, designated L ateral shoot‐ I nducing F actor (LIF), in transgenic petunia plants resulted in a dramatic increase in lateral shoots and reduced plant height. LIF overexpression also caused a decrease in the number of cells in the stem, leaf, and flower, accompanied by enlargement of cells. trans ‐Zeatin was decreased while N 6 ‐(Δ 2 ‐isopentenyl)adenine was increased in the leaves of LIF ‐overexpressed petunia. Most of the riboside, ribotide, and glucoside forms were also increased. Expression analysis using a LIF :: GUS fusion gene and RT‐PCR suggested that LIF is specifically expressed around the bases of axillary buds and weakly in basal part of flowers in wild‐type petunia. GFP‐LIF‐GUS fusion proteins were translocated into the nucleus when transiently expressed in onion epidermal cells. LIF overexpression resulted in enhanced branching also in tobacco and Arabidopsis, indicating the conservation of the response to LIF overexpression among dicotyledonous plants. On the basis of these results we discuss about possible functions of LIF.