Abstract
The typical body plan of higher plants is composed of the main axis consisting of the primary shoot and root attached by numerous lateral organs, such as, flowers, leaves, branches and lateral roots. The Arabidopsis PUCHI gene encoding a member of the AP2/EREBP transcription factors, is expressed in the boundary between the primary root and lateral roots and controls cell proliferation at the base of lateral roots. Here, we analyzed the function of PUCHI in the shoot. The puchi mutant ectopically produces rudimentary bracts associated with a pair of stiples at the base of the peduncle, indicating that PUCHI represses bract and spitule formation in flowers. PUCHI controls lateral organ development both in the shoot and root, through its expression in the boundary between the main axis and lateral organs.
