LEAFY (abbreviated LFY) is a plant gene that causes groups of undifferentiated cells called meristems to develop into flowers instead of leaves with associated shoots.[1]

LEAFY is involved in floral meristem identity.

LEAFY encodes a plant-specific transcription factor, is found in all land plants and in charophytes[2] and one of its exons have been used extensively in phylogenetic work on spermatophytes.[3] When the gene is overexpressed, the plant is less sensitive to environmental signals and flowers earlier.[4]

The LEAFY protein has two conserved domains: the DNA binding domain, a Helix-Turn-Helix motif buried inside a unique 7-helix fold[5] and a Sterile Alpha Motif.[6] It binds DNA as a dimer and its binding site has been identified both in vivo and in vitro.[7][8] The F-box protein Unusual Floral Organs (UFO) is able to redirect LFY to binding sites that LFY cannot access alone and, together, they regulate genes involved in petal and stamen development (such as APETALA3, PISTILLATA or RABBIT EARS).[9]

References

  1. ^ Weigel D, Alvarez J, Smyth DR, Yanofsky MF, Meyerowitz EM (1992). "LEAFY controls floral meristem identity in Arabidopsis" (PDF). Cell. 69 (5): 843–859. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(92)90295-N. PMID 1350515.
  2. ^ Sayou, Camille; Monniaux, Marie; Nanao, Max H.; Moyroud, Edwige; Brockington, Samuel F.; Thévenon, Emmanuel; Chahtane, Hicham; Warthmann, Norman; Melkonian, Michael (2014-02-07). "A promiscuous intermediate underlies the evolution of LEAFY DNA binding specificity". Science. 343 (6171): 645–648. Bibcode:2014Sci...343..645S. doi:10.1126/science.1248229. hdl:1885/64773. ISSN 1095-9203. PMID 24436181. S2CID 207778924.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Peter M. Hollingsworth; Richard M. Bateman; R. J. Gornall (1999). Molecular Systematics and Plant Evolution. CRC Press. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-7484-0908-2.
  4. ^ Weigel D, Nilsson O (1995). "A developmental switch sufficient for flower initiation in diverse plants". Nature. 377 (6549): 495–500. Bibcode:1995Natur.377..495W. doi:10.1038/377495a0. PMID 7566146. S2CID 4346606.
  5. ^ Hamès, Cécile; Ptchelkine, Denis; Grimm, Clemens; Thevenon, Emmanuel; Moyroud, Edwige; Gérard, Francine; Martiel, Jean-Louis; Benlloch, Reyes; Parcy, François (2008-10-08). "Structural basis for LEAFY floral switch function and similarity with helix-turn-helix proteins". The EMBO Journal. 27 (19): 2628–2637. doi:10.1038/emboj.2008.184. ISSN 1460-2075. PMC 2567413. PMID 18784751.
  6. ^ Sayou, Camille; Nanao, Max H.; Jamin, Marc; Posé, David; Thévenon, Emmanuel; Grégoire, Laura; Tichtinsky, Gabrielle; Denay, Grégoire; Ott, Felix (2016-04-21). "A SAM oligomerization domain shapes the genomic binding landscape of the LEAFY transcription factor". Nature Communications. 7: 11222. Bibcode:2016NatCo...711222S. doi:10.1038/ncomms11222. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 4844672. PMID 27097556.
  7. ^ Moyroud, Edwige; Minguet, Eugenio Gómez; Ott, Felix; Yant, Levi; Posé, David; Monniaux, Marie; Blanchet, Sandrine; Bastien, Olivier; Thévenon, Emmanuel (2011-04-01). "Prediction of regulatory interactions from genome sequences using a biophysical model for the Arabidopsis LEAFY transcription factor". The Plant Cell. 23 (4): 1293–1306. doi:10.1105/tpc.111.083329. ISSN 1532-298X. PMC 3101549. PMID 21515819.
  8. ^ Winter, Cara M.; Austin, Ryan S.; Blanvillain-Baufumé, Servane; Reback, Maxwell A.; Monniaux, Marie; Wu, Miin-Feng; Sang, Yi; Yamaguchi, Ayako; Yamaguchi, Nobutoshi (2011-04-19). "LEAFY target genes reveal floral regulatory logic, cis motifs, and a link to biotic stimulus response". Developmental Cell. 20 (4): 430–443. doi:10.1016/j.devcel.2011.03.019. ISSN 1878-1551. PMID 21497757.
  9. ^ Rieu, Philippe; Turchi, Laura; Thévenon, Emmanuel; Zarkadas, Eleftherios; Nanao, Max; Chahtane, Hicham; Tichtinsky, Gabrielle; Lucas, Jérémy; Blanc-Mathieu, Romain; Zubieta, Chloe; Schoehn, Guy; Parcy, François (2023-02-02). "The F-box protein UFO controls flower development by redirecting the master transcription factor LEAFY to new cis-elements" (PDF). Nature Plants. 9 (2): 315–329. doi:10.1038/s41477-022-01336-2. ISSN 2055-0278. PMID 36732360. S2CID 256545937.
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