A reduced vernalization requirement is a key component of the early-bolting trait in globe artichoke ( var. ).

Early bolting is a major breeding objective for globe artichoke ( var. L.).

Substitutes for to Form Complex Leaves and Petals.

LEAFY plant-specific transcription factors, which are key regulators of flower meristem identity and floral patterning, also contribute to meristem activity. Notably, in some legumes, LFY orthologs such as Medicago truncatula SINGLE LEAFLET (SGL1) are essential in maintaining an undifferentiated and proliferating fate required for leaflet formation. This function contrasts with most other species, in which leaf dissection depends on the reactivation of KNOTTED-like class I homeobox genes (KNOXI).

Identification and characterization of putative targets of VEGETATIVE1/FULc, a key regulator of development of the compound inflorescence in pea and related legumes.

Inflorescence architecture contributes to essential plant traits. It determines plant shape, contributing to morphological diversity, and also determines the position and number of flowers and fruits produced by the plant, thus influencing seed yield. Most legumes have compound inflorescences, where flowers are produced in secondary inflorescences (I2), formed at the flanks of the main primary inflorescence (I1), in contrast to simple inflorescences of plants like Arabidopsis, in which flowers are directly formed on the I1.

The SINGLE FLOWER (SFL) gene encodes a MYB transcription factor that regulates the number of flowers produced by the inflorescence of chickpea.

Legumes usually have compound inflorescences, where flowers/pods develop from secondary inflorescences (I2), formed laterally at the primary inflorescence (I1). Number of flowers per I2, characteristic of each legume species, has important ecological and evolutionary relevance as it determines diversity in inflorescence architecture; moreover, it is also agronomically important for its potential impact on yield. Nevertheless, the genetic network controlling the number of flowers per I2 is virtually unknown.

Is a Key Player in Pea Pollen Development Through the Modulation of Redox Homeostasis.

Redox homeostasis has been linked to proper anther and pollen development. Accordingly, plant cells have developed several Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)-scavenging mechanisms to maintain the redox balance. Hemopexins constitute one of these mechanisms preventing heme-associated oxidative stress in animals, fungi, and plants.

Cauliflower fractal forms arise from perturbations of floral gene networks.

Throughout development, plant meristems regularly produce organs in defined spiral, opposite, or whorl patterns. Cauliflowers present an unusual organ arrangement with a multitude of spirals nested over a wide range of scales. How such a fractal, self-similar organization emerges from developmental mechanisms has remained elusive.

Is a Direct Target of AGAMOUS and WUSCHEL and Is Specifically Expressed in the Floral Meristematic Cells.

The specified floral meristem will develop a pre-established number of floral organs and, thus, terminate the floral meristematic cells. The floral meristematic pool of cells is controlled, among some others, by WUSCHEL (WUS) and AGAMOUS (AG) transcription factors (TFs). Here, we demonstrate that the () gene, a cell proliferation regulator, starts to be expressed since the floral meristem specification of and is expressed in all floral meristematic cells.

TERMINAL FLOWER1 Functions as a Mobile Transcriptional Cofactor in the Shoot Apical Meristem.

The floral transition is a critical step in the life cycle of flowering plants, and several mechanisms control this finely orchestrated process. TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1) is a floral repressor and close relative of the florigen, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). During the floral transition, expression is up-regulated in the inflorescence apex to maintain the indeterminate growth of the shoot apical meristem (SAM).

Lotus japonicus NOOT-BOP-COCH-LIKE1 is essential for nodule, nectary, leaf and flower development.

The NOOT-BOP-COCH-LIKE (NBCL) genes are orthologs of Arabidopsis thaliana BLADE-ON-PETIOLE1/2. The NBCLs are developmental regulators essential for plant shaping, mainly through the regulation of organ boundaries, the promotion of lateral organ differentiation and the acquisition of organ identity. In addition to their roles in leaf, stipule and flower development, NBCLs are required for maintaining the identity of indeterminate nitrogen-fixing nodules with persistent meristems in legumes.

AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR3 Regulates Compound Leaf Patterning by Directly Repressing Expression in .

Diverse leaf forms can be seen in nature. In encoding a Cys(2)His(2) transcription factor is a key regulator of compound leaf patterning. PALM1 negatively regulates expression of , a key regulator of lateral leaflet initiation.

Regulatory interplay between LEAFY, APETALA1/CAULIFLOWER and TERMINAL FLOWER1: New insights into an old relationship.

The gene regulatory network comprised of LEAFY (LFY), APETALA1 (AP1), the AP1 paralog CAULIFLOWER (CAL), and TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1) is a major determinant of the flowering process in Arabidopsis thaliana. TFL1 activity in the shoot apical meristem provides inflorescence identity while the transcription factors LFY and AP1/CAL confer floral identity to emerging floral primordia. It has been thought that LFY and AP1/CAL control the onset of flowering in part by repressing TFL1 expression in flowers.

Transcription Factor Interplay between LEAFY and APETALA1/CAULIFLOWER during Floral Initiation.

The transcription factors LEAFY (LFY) and APETALA1 (AP1), together with the AP1 paralog CAULIFLOWER (CAL), control the onset of flower development in a partially redundant manner. This redundancy is thought to be mediated, at least in part, through the regulation of a shared set of target genes. However, whether these genes are independently or cooperatively regulated by LFY and AP1/CAL is currently unknown.

Functional characterization of AGAMOUS-subfamily members from cotton during reproductive development and in response to plant hormones.

Expression analysis of the AG -subfamily members from G. hirsutum during flower and fruit development. Reproductive development in cotton, including the fruit and fiber formation, is a complex process; it involves the coordinated action of gene expression regulators, and it is highly influenced by plant hormones.

Altered expression of the bZIP transcription factor DRINK ME affects growth and reproductive development in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Here we describe an uncharacterized gene that negatively influences Arabidopsis growth and reproductive development. DRINK ME (DKM; bZIP30) is a member of the bZIP transcription factor family, and is expressed in meristematic tissues such as the inflorescence meristem (IM), floral meristem (FM), and carpel margin meristem (CMM). Altered DKM expression affects meristematic tissues and reproductive organ development, including the gynoecium, which is the female reproductive structure and is determinant for fertility and sexual reproduction.

Separate elements of the TERMINAL FLOWER 1 cis-regulatory region integrate pathways to control flowering time and shoot meristem identity.

TERMINAL FLOWER 1 (TFL1) is a key regulator of Arabidopsis plant architecture that responds to developmental and environmental signals to control flowering time and the fate of shoot meristems. TFL1 expression is dynamic, being found in all shoot meristems, but not in floral meristems, with the level and distribution changing throughout development. Using a variety of experimental approaches we have analysed the TFL1 promoter to elucidate its functional structure.

Genetic control of inflorescence architecture in legumes.

The architecture of the inflorescence, the shoot system that bears the flowers, is a main component of the huge diversity of forms found in flowering plants. Inflorescence architecture has also a strong impact on the production of fruits and seeds, and on crop management, two highly relevant agronomical traits. Elucidating the genetic networks that control inflorescence development, and how they vary between different species, is essential to understanding the evolution of plant form and to being able to breed key architectural traits in crop species.

Changing the spatial pattern of TFL1 expression reveals its key role in the shoot meristem in controlling Arabidopsis flowering architecture.

Models for the control of above-ground plant architectures show how meristems can be programmed to be either shoots or flowers. Molecular, genetic, transgenic, and mathematical studies have greatly refined these models, suggesting that the phase of the shoot reflects different genes contributing to its repression of flowering, its vegetativeness ('veg'), before activators promote flower development. Key elements of how the repressor of flowering and shoot meristem gene TFL1 acts have now been tested, by changing its spatiotemporal pattern.

Pea VEGETATIVE2 Is an FD Homolog That Is Essential for Flowering and Compound Inflorescence Development.

As knowledge of the gene networks regulating inflorescence development in Arabidopsis thaliana improves, the current challenge is to characterize this system in different groups of crop species with different inflorescence architecture. Pea (Pisum sativum) has served as a model for development of the compound raceme, characteristic of many legume species, and in this study, we characterize the pea VEGETATIVE2 (VEG2) locus, showing that it is critical for regulation of flowering and inflorescence development and identifying it as a homolog of the bZIP transcription factor FD. Through detailed phenotypic characterizations of veg2 mutants, expression analyses, and the use of protein-protein interaction assays, we find that VEG2 has important roles during each stage of development of the pea compound inflorescence.

Regulation of compound leaf development by PHANTASTICA in Medicago truncatula.

Plant leaves, simple or compound, initiate as peg-like structures from the peripheral zone of the shoot apical meristem, which requires class I KNOTTED-LIKE HOMEOBOXI (KNOXI) transcription factors to maintain its activity. The MYB domain protein encoded by the ASYMMETRIC LEAVES1/ROUGH SHEATH2/PHANTASTICA (ARP) gene, together with other factors, excludes KNOXI gene expression from incipient leaf primordia to initiate leaves and specify leaf adaxial identity. However, the regulatory relationship between ARP and KNOXI is more complex in compound-leafed species.

Automation of Food Questionnaires in Medical Studies: a state-of-the-art review and future prospects.

Applications for automating the most commonly used dietary surveys in nutritional research, Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQs) and 24 h Dietary Recalls (24HDRs), are reviewed in this paper. A comprehensive search of electronic databases was carried out and findings were classified by a group of experts in nutrition and computer science into: (i) Computerized Questionnaires and Web-based Questionnaires; (ii) FFQs and 24HDRs and combinations of both; and (iii) interviewer-administered or self-administered questionnaires. A discussion on the classification made and the works reported is included.

VEGETATIVE1 is essential for development of the compound inflorescence in pea.

Unravelling the basis of variation in inflorescence architecture is important to understanding how the huge diversity in plant form has been generated. Inflorescences are divided between simple, as in Arabidopsis, with flowers directly formed at the main primary inflorescence axis, and compound, as in legumes, where they are formed at secondary or even higher order axes. The formation of secondary inflorescences predicts a novel genetic function in the development of the compound inflorescences.

STENOFOLIA regulates blade outgrowth and leaf vascular patterning in Medicago truncatula and Nicotiana sylvestris.

Dicot leaf primordia initiate at the flanks of the shoot apical meristem and extend laterally by cell division and cell expansion to form the flat lamina, but the molecular mechanism of lamina outgrowth remains unclear. Here, we report the identification of STENOFOLIA (STF), a WUSCHEL-like homeobox transcriptional regulator, in Medicago truncatula, which is required for blade outgrowth and leaf vascular patterning. STF belongs to the MAEWEST clade and its inactivation by the transposable element of Nicotiana tabacum cell type1 (Tnt1) retrotransposon insertion leads to abortion of blade expansion in the mediolateral axis and disruption of vein patterning.

Control of dissected leaf morphology by a Cys(2)His(2) zinc finger transcription factor in the model legume Medicago truncatula.

Plant leaves are diverse in their morphology, reflecting to a large degree the plant diversity in the natural environment. How different leaf morphology is determined is not yet understood. The leguminous plant Medicago truncatula exhibits dissected leaves with three leaflets at the tip.