The PIN family of proteins is best known for its involvement in polar auxin transport and tropic responses. PIN6 (At1g77110) is one of the remaining PIN family members in Arabidopsis thaliana to which a biological function has not yet been ascribed. Here we report that PIN6 is a nectary-enriched gene whose expression level is positively correlated with total nectar production in Arabidopsis, an...

Co-expression of physically linked genes occurs surprisingly frequently in eukaryotes. Such chromosomal clustering may confer a selective advantage as it enables coordinated gene regulation at the chromatin level. We studied the chromosomal organization of genes involved in male reproductive development in Arabidopsis thaliana. We developed an in-silico tool to identify physical clusters of co-...

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is a typical monoecious vegetable with individual male and female flowers, and has been used as a model plant for sex determination. It is well known that sex differentiation of cucumber can be regulated by phytohormones, such as gibberellic acid (GA) and ethylene. The molecular mechanism of female sex expression modulated by ethylene has been widely understood, bu...

Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) SUPERMAN (SUP) plays a role in establishing a boundary between whorls 3 and 4 of flowers and in ovule development. We characterized a Petunia hybrida (petunia) homolog of SUP, designated PhSUP1, to compare with SUP. Genomic DNA of the PhSUP1 partially restored the stamen number and ovule development phenotypes of the Arabidopsis sup mutant. Two P. hybrida line...

The early development of the flower of Arabidopsis thaliana is described from initiation until the opening of the bud. The morphogenesis, growth rate, and surface structure of floral organs were recorded in detail using scanning electron microscopy. Flower development has been divided into 12 stages using a series of landmark events. Stage 1 begins with the initiation of a floral buttress on th...

The ABC model of flower development, established through studies in eudicot model species, proposes that petal and stamen identity are under the control of B-class genes. Analysis of B- and C-class genes in the grass species rice and maize suggests that the C- and B-class functions are conserved between monocots and eudicots, with B-class genes controlling stamen and lodicule development. We ha...

Alternanthera philoxeroides is a perennial amphibious weed native to South America but has now spread to diverse parts of the world. A. philoxeroides reproduces both sexually and asexually in its native range, but propagates solely through vegetative means in its introduced range. Traits associated with sexual reproduction become degraded for sexual dysfunction, with flowers possessing either p...

Cell-cell signaling is crucial for the coordination of cell division and differentiation during plant organogenesis. We have developed a novel mosaic analysis method for Arabidopsis, based on the maize Ac/Ds transposable element system, to assess the requirements of individual genes in intercellular signaling. Using this strategy, we have shown that the floral homeotic APETALA3 (AP3) gene has d...