Abstract
Understanding the molecular mechanisms of making leaves from the shoot apical meristem (SAM) is one of the important issues in plant developmental biology. In this paper, we report on the isolation and characterization of the OsRS2 gene, which corresponds to the maize ROUGH SHEATH2 (RS2). In situ mRNA localization of OsRS2 has revealed that OsRS2 is preferentially expressed at future vascular regions and the abaxial side of lateral organ primordia around SAM. Rice has several advantages in studying on the molecular basis of the phyllotaxis because of its relatively simple phyllotactic pattern. Thus, OsRS2 will be useful for analyzing the mechanism of the leaf initiation in SAM as a molecular marker of primordium of lateral organs in SAM.
