Abstract
The Arabidopsis ERECTA (ER) gene regulates the shape of organs derived from the shoot apical meristem, and recent genetic studies revealed that ER and two homologues act redundantly in the epidermis differentiation. However, little is known of both upstream regulators and downstream target genes of ER.
To gain new insights into the ER function, we have studied the regulatory mechanism of ER expression. A mutant screen was performed utilizing GUS reporter gene driven by the ER promoter, and identified several mutants with decreased levels of GUS expression. Further analyses revealed that the mRNA accumulation of ER was impaired in one of those mutants, reduced expression of erecta1 (rxe1). Phenotypic analyses of rxe1 mutant implied that in addition to ER, there are more target genes regulated by wild-type RXE1. We will report the molecular characterization of rxe1 mutant.
