Transcriptome analysis of gynoecium morphogenesis uncovers the chronology of gene regulatory network activity.

The gynoecium is the most complex organ formed by the flowering plants. It encloses the ovules, provides a surface for pollen contact and self-incompatibility reactions, allows pollen tube growth, and, post fertilization, develops into the fruit. Consequently, the regulation of gynoecium morphogenesis is complex and appropriate timing of this process in part determines reproductive success.

A protocol for laser microdissection (LMD) followed by transcriptome analysis of plant reproductive tissue in phylogenetically distant angiosperms.

Background: Plant development is controlled by the action of many, often connected gene regulatory networks. Differential gene expression controlled by internal and external cues is a major driver of growth and time specific differentiation in plants. Transcriptome analysis is the state-of-the-art method to detect spatio-temporal changes in gene expression during development.

Virus-induced gene silencing: empowering genetics in non-model organisms.

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an RNA interference-based technology used to transiently knock down target gene expression by utilizing modified plant viral genomes. VIGS can be adapted to many angiosperm species that cover large phylogenetic distances, allowing the analysis of gene functions in species that are not amenable to stable genetic transformation. With a vast amount of sequence information already available and even more likely to become available in the future, VIGS provides a means to analyze the functions of candidate genes identified in large genomic or transcriptomic screens.