Mantegazza Otho, Gregis Veronica, Mendes Marta Adelina, Morandini Piero, Alves-Ferreira Márcio, Patreze Camila M, Nardeli Sarah M, Kater Martin M, Colombo Lucia
Dipartimento di BioScienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Dipartimento di BioScienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biofisica, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Ann Bot. 2014 Nov;114(7):1507-15. doi: 10.1093/aob/mcu124. Epub 2014 Jul 6.
The REM (Reproductive Meristem) gene family of Arabidopsis thaliana is part of the B3 DNA-binding domain superfamily. Despite the fact that several groups have worked on the REM genes for many years, little is known about the function of this transcription factor family. This study aims to identify a set of REM genes involved in flower development and to characterize their function.
In order to provide an overview of the REM gene family, a detailed expression analysis for all REM genes of A. thaliana was performed and combined with a meta-analysis of ChIP-sequencing and microarray experiments.
Two sets of phylogenetically closely related REM genes, namely REM23, REM24 and REM25, and REM34, REM35 and REM36, were identified as possibly being involved in the early stages of flower development. Single- and double-mutant combinations were analysed for these genes, and no phenotypic effects were detected during flower development.
The data suggest that the REM34, REM35 and REM36 group is the most interesting one, as REM34 is co-expressed with the floral meristem identity (FMI) genes, they are bound by AP1, SVP, AP3 and PI, and they are expressed in the floral meristem and during the earliest stages of flower development. However, it appears that high levels of functional redundancy may conceal the exact function of these transcription factor genes.
拟南芥的REM（生殖分生组织）基因家族是B3 DNA结合域超家族的一部分。尽管多个研究团队多年来一直致力于研究REM基因，但对这个转录因子家族的功能却知之甚少。本研究旨在鉴定一组参与花发育的REM基因，并对其功能进行表征。
为了全面了解REM基因家族，对拟南芥所有REM基因进行了详细的表达分析，并结合了染色质免疫沉淀测序（ChIP-sequencing）和微阵列实验的荟萃分析。
鉴定出两组系统发育关系密切的REM基因，即REM23、REM24和REM25，以及REM34、REM35和REM36，它们可能参与花发育的早期阶段。对这些基因的单突变体和双突变体组合进行了分析，在花发育过程中未检测到表型效应。
数据表明，REM34、REM35和REM36这一组最为有趣，因为REM34与花分生组织特征（FMI）基因共表达，它们被AP1、SVP、AP3和PI结合，并且在花分生组织以及花发育的最早阶段表达。然而，似乎高水平的功能冗余可能掩盖了这些转录因子基因的确切功能。
