The B-class of MADS box genes has been studied in a wide range of plant species, but has remained largely uncharacterized in legumes. Here we investigate the evolutionary fate of the duplicated AP3-like genes of a legume species. To obtain insight into the extent to which B-class MADS box gene functions are conserved or have diversified in legumes, we isolated and characterized the two members ...

Plant MADS-domain transcription factors act as key regulators of many developmental processes. Despite the wealth of information that exists about these factors, the mechanisms by which they recognize their cognate DNA-binding site, called CArG-box (consensus CCW6GG), and how different MADS-domain proteins achieve DNA-binding specificity, are still largely unknown. We used information from in v...

Floral organogenesis is dependent on the combinatorial action of MADS-box transcription factors, which in turn control the expression of suites of genes required for growth, patterning, and differentiation. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the specification of petal and stamen identity depends on the action of two MADS-box gene products, APETALA3 (AP3) and PISTILLATA (PI). In a screen for...

Bolting in lettuce is promoted by high temperature and bolting resistance is of great economic importance for lettuce production. But how bolting is regulated at the molecular level remains elusive. Here, a bolting resistant line S24 and a bolting sensitive line S39 were selected for morphological, physiological, transcriptomic and proteomic comparisons. A total of 12204 genes were differential...

MIKCc-type MADS-box genes encode transcription factors that control floral organ morphogenesis and flowering time in flowering plants. Here, in order to determine when the subfamilies of MIKCc originated and their early evolutionary trajectory, we sampled and analyzed the genomes and large-scale transcriptomes representing all the orders of gymnosperms and basal angiosperms. Through phylogeneti...

The floral homeotic APETALA3 (AP3) gene in Arabidopsis thaliana encodes a MADS box transcription factor required for specifying petal and stamen identities. AP3 is a member of the euAP3 lineage, which arose by gene duplication coincident with radiation of the core eudicots. Although Arabidopsis lacks genes in the paralogous Tomato MADS box gene 6 (TM6) lineage, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) pos...

As a consequence of global climate change, certain stress factors that have negative impact on crop productivity such as heat, cold, drought and salinity are becoming increasingly prevalent. We conducted meta-analysis to identify genes conserved across plant species involved in (1) general abiotic conditions, (2) specific unique (drought, salinity, extreme temperature) leaf tissues. collected r...