Abstract
To investigate the flowering process of woody plants, we are analyzing genes expressed at flowering stage of Eucalyptus. First we isolated RNAs from flower buds of Eucalyptus, and then constructed a cDNA library using the RNAs. MADS-box genes were identified as transcription factors that function in flower formation in many plant species. The EST analysis showed that at least 14 MADS-box genes were expressed during flower formation in Eucalyptus. In this study, we focused on the floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS (AG) orthologs to understand the mechanism of stamen formation. Three genes that have homology with AG gene were expressed in Eucalyptus, and were named as EAGL1, EAGL2, and EAGL3 respectively. EAGL1 and EAGL2 genes were strongly expressed in flower buds, whereas expression of EAGL3 was at low level. Now we are constructing genes that repress expression of the agamous like genes using RNAi method.
