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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #135994
Title: A FLORET BY ANY OTHER NAME: CONTROL OF MERISTEM IDENTITY IN MAIZE

Author
item McSteen, Paula
item LAUDENCIA, DEBBIE - USDA/UCB PGEC
item COLASANTI, JOSEPH - USDA/UCB PGEC

Submitted to: Trends in Plant Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2000
Publication Date: 2/1/2000
Citation: Mcsteen, P.C., Laudencia, D., Colasanti, J. 2000. A floret by any other name: control of meristem identity in maize. Trends in Plant Science, 5(2):61-66.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The life of a plant unfolds as a series of developmental stages, with each stage defined by changes in meristem identity. In maize, there are several distinct stages: the transition from vegetative growth to flowering, the elaboration of the inflorescence, and the formation of flowers. Progress in understanding meristem identity and function has been made by analyzing maize mutants with defects at each of these stages. Recently cloned genes suggest that, although the molecular mechanisms controlling floral organ identity are conserved in maize and other model species, the control of meristem identity during earlier developmental stages might be less conserved.