Veit B, Briggs S P, Schmidt R J, Yanofsky M F, Hake S
Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Nature. 1998 May 14;393(6681):166-8. doi: 10.1038/30239.
Higher plants elaborate much of their architecture post-embryonically through development initiated at the tips of shoots. During vegetative growth, leaf primordia arise at predictable sites to give characteristic leaf arrangements, or phyllotaxies. How these sites are determined is a long-standing question that bears on the nature of pattern-formation mechanisms in plants. Fate-mapping studies in several species indicate that each leaf primordium becomes organized from a group of 100-200 cells on the flank of the shoot apex. Although molecular studies indicate that the regulated expression of specific homeobox genes plays some part in this determination process, mechanisms that regulate the timing and position of leaf initiation are less well understood. Here we describe a gene from maize, terminal ear 1. Patterns of expression of this gene in the shoot and phenotypes of mutants indicate a role for terminal ear 1 in regulating leaf initiation. The tel gene product contains conserved RNA-binding motifs, indicating that it may function through an RNA-binding activity.
高等植物在胚胎发育后通过茎尖起始的发育过程构建其大部分结构。在营养生长期间，叶原基在可预测的位点产生，形成特征性的叶序，即叶序模式。这些位点是如何确定的，这是一个长期存在的问题，与植物模式形成机制的本质相关。对多个物种的命运图谱研究表明，每个叶原基由茎尖侧面的一组100 - 200个细胞组织形成。虽然分子研究表明特定同源异型盒基因的调控表达在这个决定过程中发挥了一定作用，但调控叶起始时间和位置的机制仍不太清楚。在这里，我们描述了一个来自玉米的基因，顶端穗1。该基因在茎中的表达模式以及突变体的表型表明顶端穗1在调控叶起始中发挥作用。tel基因产物包含保守的RNA结合基序，表明它可能通过RNA结合活性发挥作用。
