Abstract
In many land plants, the cell characters are different between the adaxial and abaxial domains within the same leaf. It has been revealed that such cell differentiation is regulated by several genes expressed specifically in the adaxial or abaxial domain. However, the molecular mechanism of the domain specific expression remains to be elucidated. We have analyzed the regulatory mechanism using an abaxial specific gene FILAMENTOUS FLOWER (FIL).
A novel Arabidopsis mutant, enlarged fil expression domain2 (enf2), shows broader FIL expression domain than that of wild type. The responsible gene, ENF2, encodes a chloroplast targeted protein. The chloroplast development in leaf primordia of enf2 mutant is impaired. In addition, inhibition of chloroplast development in wild type plants using erythromysin resulted in broader FIL expression, which was phenocopy of enf2 mutant. These results indicate that the proper chloroplast development is essential for the precise regulation of FIL expression.
