Abstract
In model eudicot, Arabiodpsis thaliana, the genetic basis of lateral organ polarity has been the focus of a number of studies, leading to the identification of key regulators involved in abaxial-adaxial specification of lateral organs, such as, PHABULOSA-like HD-ZIP III gene family and KANADI gene family, for adaxial and abaxial cell fate determination, respectively. Leaf organization in grass species is largely different from that in eudicots, and grass leaves show some unique characters along with abaxial-adaxial axis. For example, mesophyll of grasses shows no distinct differentiation into palisade and spongy parenchyma, and instead, some abaxial- or adaxial-specific tissues differentiate in epidermis. Therefore, it is of interest to study whether the genetic mechanisms for the abaxial-adaxial specification are conserved between grasses and eudicots or not. In this report, we show molecular genetic studies about the functions of PHABULOSA-like and KANADI-like genes in rice by expression analyses and gain-of- or loss-of-function approaches.
