RID1, encoding a Cys2/His2-type zinc finger transcription factor, acts as a master switch from vegetative to floral development in rice.

ABSTRACT: Transition from the vegetative phase to reproductive phase is a crucial process in the life cycle of higher plants. Although the molecular mechanisms of flowering regulation have been extensively characterized in a number of plant species, little is known regarding how the transition process initiates. Here, we show that the Rice Indeterminate 1 (RID1) gene acts as the master switch for the transition from the vegetative to reproductive phase. RID1 encodes a Cys-2/His-2-type zinc finger transcription factor that does not have an ortholog in Arabidopsis spp. A RID1 knockout (rid1), mutated by T-DNA insertion, never headed after growing for >500 days under a range of growth conditions and is thus referred to as a never-flowering phenotype. This mutation-suppressed expression of the genes is

SUBMITTER: Wu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2529042 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature