Abstract
MOSAIC FLORAL ORGANS 1 (MFO1) / OsMADS6 is one of the rice class-G MADS-box genes. We have analyzed mfo1 mutants and RNAi knocked-down lines, and unveiled that MFO1 is involved in determination of floral organ identity and meristem determinacy.
We generated double knocked-down mutants of MFO1 and other classes of MADS-box genes, SPW1 (class B), OsMADS3 (class C), and LHS1 (class E), respectively. SPW1 was expressed strongly in lodicules like MFO1. OsMADS3 was expressed in carpel like MFO1, and increase of lodicules in similar arrangement and floral meristem indeterminacy were observed in both mfo1 and the osmads3 mutant. In the phylogentic analysis, LHS1 showed high homology with MFO1, and both LHS1 and MFO1 were expressed in palea and carpel and possess common function associated with meristem determinacy. From the analyses of theses double mutants, we will discus the relationship between MFO1 and the other classes of MADS-box genes.
