The GUS Reporter System in Flower Development Studies.

The β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene system is an important technique with versatile uses in the study of flower development in a broad range of species. Transcriptional and translational GUS fusions are used to characterize gene and protein expression patterns, respectively, during reproductive development. Additionally, GUS reporters can be used to map cis-regulatory elements within promoter sequences and to investigate whether genes are regulated post-transcriptionally.

Paternal imprinting of dosage-effect defective1 contributes to seed weight xenia in maize.

Historically, xenia effects were hypothesized to be unique genetic contributions of pollen to seed phenotype, but most examples represent standard complementation of Mendelian traits. We identified the imprinted dosage-effect defective1 (ded1) locus in maize (Zea mays) as a paternal regulator of seed size and development. Hypomorphic alleles show a 5-10% seed weight reduction when ded1 is transmitted through the male, while homozygous mutants are defective with a 70-90% seed weight reduction.

Efficient molecular marker design using the MaizeGDB Mo17 SNPs and Indels track.

Positional cloning in maize (Zea mays) requires development of markers in the region of interest. We found that primers designed to amplify annotated insertion-deletion polymorphisms of seven base pairs or greater between B73 and Mo17 produce polymorphic markers at a 97% frequency with 49% of the products showing co-dominant fragment length polymorphisms. When the same polymorphisms are used to develop markers for B73 and W22 or Mo17 and W22 mapping populations, 22% and 31% of markers are co-dominant, respectively.

The GUS reporter system in flower development studies.

The β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene system is an important technique with versatile uses in the study of flower development. Transcriptional and translational GUS fusions are used to characterize gene and protein expression patterns, respectively, during reproductive development. Additionally, GUS reporters can be used to map cis-regulatory elements within promoter sequences and to investigate whether genes are regulated posttranscriptionally.

Three Arabidopsis AIL/PLT genes act in combination to regulate shoot apical meristem function.

The shoot apical meristem, a small dome-shaped structure at the shoot apex, is responsible for the initiation of all post-embryonic shoot organs. Pluripotent stem cells within the meristem replenish themselves and provide daughter cells that become incorporated into lateral organ primordia around the meristem periphery. We have identified three novel regulators of shoot apical meristem activity in Arabidopsis thaliana that encode related AIL/PLT transcription factors: AINTEGUMENTA (ANT), AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 (AIL6)/PLETHORA3 (PLT3) and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE7 (AIL7)/PLETHORA7 (PLT7).