Three discrete classes of Arabidopsis cyclins are expressed during different intervals of the cell cycle.

We have isolated cDNAs encoding four additional mitotic-like cyclins from Arabidopsis: cyc2aAt, cyc2bAt, cyc3aAt, and cyc3bAt. Examination of amino acid sequences deduced from plant cyclin cDNAs isolated so far showed that they can be grouped into three distinct classes. The members of each plant cyclin family are more related to each other than to any animal or yeast cyclin. Reverse transcription-PCR analysis demonstrated that cyc2aAt was expressed in all plant organs, whereas cyc2bAt mRNAs were found only in roots; cyc3aAt was not expressed in leaves and was barely expressed in flowers. On the other hand, cyc3bAt transcripts were observed in all organs. Whole-mount in situ hybridizations on roots showed that the cyclin mRNAs were confined to parts of the roots with mitotic activity. Furthermore, results of whole-mount in situ hybridizations on roots treated with either oryzalin or hydroxyurea suggest that the different cyclin classes have distinct functions in the cell cycle.