Caracterización preliminar de una secuencia homóloga del gen LEAFY en gimnospermas ( Pinus radiata Lemm.)

A fragment from an homologous sequence of LEAFY (LFY) gene that encodes for a transcription factor involved in early events during inflorescence development was cloned from genomic DNA of P. radiata, a non flowering seed plant. Using PCR technic we amplified an 85 bp fragment flanked by two primers designed from some DNA sequences obtained from different species of angiosperms. The fragment obtained was.highly similar to A. thaliana gene LFY between 5077 and 5143 bases and hybridized with a LFY clone from this species. This result suggests that sorne molecular components of the functional and structural complexity of the development of reproductive structures in higher plants are an ancestral property of seed plants and not a novelty in the angiosperm lineage.