Abstract
In Arabidopsis , a floral meristem identity gene LFY plays a central role in flower development. LFY encodes a plant-specific transcription factor and promotes the expression of floral homeotic genes, most of which encode a MADS-box protein. To investigate the ancestral role of FLO/LFY, we isolated a FLO/LFY homolog,designated MpLFY, from the liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha). Over-expression and RNAi transgenic liverwort lines were generated and their phenotype is currently being analyzed to investigate the function of MpLFY.
We isolated MpLFY promoter region and generated reporter transgenic liverwort lines (pMpLFY::MpLFY:GUS). Spatial patterns of GUS expression will be compared with mRNA distribution revealed by in situ hybridization analysis in wild-type plants.
We generated steoid-inducible MpLFY system (pMpEF::MpLFY:GR). After dexametason treatment, pMpEF::MpLFY:GR plants showed various phenotype. With this MpLFY:GR system, target genes are currently being investigated by microarray analysis.
