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ABERRANT PANICLE ORGANIZATION 2/RFL , the rice ortholog of Arabidopsis LEAFY , suppresses the transition from inflorescence meristem to floral meristem through interaction with APO1
Author(s) -
IkedaKawakatsu Kyoko,
Maekawa Masahiko,
Izawa Takeshi,
Itoh JunIchi,
Nagato Yasuo
Publication year - 2012
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.2011.04781.x
Subject(s) - meristem , leafy , biology , arabidopsis , inflorescence , phyllotaxis , panicle , botany , mutant , genetics , gene , shoot
Summary The temporal and spatial control of meristem identity is a key element in plant development. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate inflorescence and flower architecture, we characterized the rice aberrant panicle organization 2 ( apo2 ) mutant which exhibits small panicles with reduced number of primary branches due to the precocious formation of spikelet meristems. The apo2 mutants also display a shortened plastochron in the vegetative phase, late flowering, aberrant floral organ identities and loss of floral meristem determinacy. Map‐based cloning revealed that APO2 is identical to previously reported RFL gene, the rice ortholog of the Arabidopsis LEAFY ( LFY ) gene. Further analysis indicated that APO2/RFL and APO1 , the rice ortholog of Arabidopsis UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS , act cooperatively to control inflorescence and flower development. The present study revealed functional differences between APO2/RFL and LFY. In particular, APO2/RFL and LFY act oppositely on inflorescence development. Therefore, the genetic mechanisms for controlling inflorescence architecture have evolutionarily diverged between rice (monocots) and Arabidopsis (eudicots).