The MADS domain protein AGL15 (AGAMOUS-Like 15) has been found to preferentially accumulate in angiosperm tissues derived from double fertilization (i.e. the embryo, suspensor, and endosperm) and in apomictic, somatic, and microspore embryos. Localization to the nuclei supports a role in gene regulation during this phase of the life cycle. To test whether AGL15 is involved in the promotion and ...

The self-renewal characteristics of stem cells render them vital engines of development. To better understand the molecular mechanisms that determine the properties of stem cells, transcript profiling was conducted on quiescent center (QC) cells from the Arabidopsis thaliana root meristem. The AGAMOUS-LIKE 42 (AGL42) gene, which encodes a MADS box transcription factor whose expression is enrich...

Mutations in the AGAMOUS (AG) gene cause transformations in two adjacent whorls of the Arabidopsis flower. Petals develop in the third floral whorl rather than the normal stamens, and the cells that would normally develop into the fourth whorl gynoecium behave as if they constituted an ag flower primordium. Early in flower development, AG RNA is evenly distributed throughout third and fourth wh...

Mutations in the AGAMOUS (AG) gene of Arabidopsis thaliana result in the conversion of reproductive organs, stamens and carpels, into perianth organs, sepals and petals. We have isolated and characterized the putative AG gene from Nicotiana tabacum, NAG1, whose deduced protein product shares 73% identical amino acid residues with the Arabidopsis AG gene product. RNA tissue in situ hybridization...

Certain genes have a way of rewarding continued study, as can be seen from the long histories of discoveries that have resulted from work on mammalian hemoglobin genes, on the Escherichia coli lacZ gene, and on many others. A plant gene that may fit this mold is the homeotic flower-development gene AGAMOUS (AG). In the past few years, study of the genetics and molecular genetics of this Arabido...

The Arabidopsis AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) gene has been shown previously to be involved in ovule development and in the initiation and growth of floral organs. Here, we show that ANT acts in additional processes during flower development, including repression of AGAMOUS (AG) in second whorl cells, promotion of petal epidermal cell identity, and gynoecium development. Analyses of ap2-1 ant-6 double mut...