Abstract
In flower buds, three floral organs, petals, stamens, and carpels are enclosed by sepals. During the process of floral organogesis, four sepal primordia are generated first at the outermost whorl of a floral meristem, and then the other floral organ primordia appear. This reflects that sepals have evolved to protect the other floral organs. For this purpose, sepals are required to have enough width to cover the young bud. In the fl51 mutants, four sepals can not cover completely, because the sepals are narrower and longer than those of the wild type, though sepal identity is normal. It suggests that the FL51 gene is involved in the sepal development in both lateral and proximal-distal directions.We mapped the FL51 gene on the upper part of chromosome 1. Mapping data and possible functions of the FL51 gene will be presented.
