Coordination of flower development by homeotic master regulators

• Published in: Current opinion in plant biology Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 53 - 59
• Main Author: Ito, Toshiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2011; [Oxford, UK]: Pergamon: Elsevier Science
• Subjects: binding proteins; binding sites; chromatin; DNA-binding proteins; flowering; flowers; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - growth & development; gene expression; gene expression regulation; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes, Homeobox - genetics; genome; genomics; homeotic genes; literature reviews; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; plants; Reproduction - genetics; signal transduction; transcription factors
• ISSN: 1369-5266; 1879-0356
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2010.08.013

▶ Key logic of homeotic proteins-combinatorial action and multi-functionality. ▶ Homeotic proteins control hormone synthesis/signaling for coordinated organogenesis. ▶ Homeotic proteins program chromatin to coordinate growth and differentiation. Floral homeotic genes encode transcription factors and act as master regulators of flower development. The homeotic protein complex is expressed in a specific whorl of the floral primordium and determines floral organ identity by the combinatorial action. Homeotic proteins continue to be expressed until late in flower development to coordinate growth and organogenesis. Recent genomic studies have shown that homeotic proteins bind thousands of target sites in the genome and regulate the expression of transcription factors, chromatin components and various proteins involved in hormone biosynthesis and signaling and other physiological activities. Further, homeotic proteins program chromatin to direct the developmental coordination of stem cell maintenance and differentiation in shaping floral organs.