Leafy Explained

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] [10]

Notes and References

  1. Weigel D, Alvarez J, Smyth DR, Yanofsky MF, Meyerowitz EM . LEAFY controls floral meristem identity in Arabidopsis . Cell . 69 . 5 . 843–859 . 1992 . 1350515 . 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90295-N . free .
  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 . 10.1126/science.1248229 . 1095-9203 . 24436181 . 2014Sci...343..645S . 1885/64773 . 207778924 . free .
  3. Book: Molecular Systematics and Plant Evolution . Peter M. Hollingsworth . Richard M. Bateman . R. J. Gornall . . 1999 . 242 . 978-0-7484-0908-2 .
  4. Weigel D, Nilsson O . A developmental switch sufficient for flower initiation in diverse plants . Nature . 377 . 6549 . 495–500 . 1995 . 7566146 . 10.1038/377495a0 . 1995Natur.377..495W . 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 . 10.1038/emboj.2008.184 . 1460-2075 . 2567413 . 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 . 10.1038/ncomms11222 . 2041-1723 . 4844672 . 27097556. 2016NatCo...711222S .
  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 . 10.1105/tpc.111.083329 . 1532-298X . 3101549 . 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 . 10.1016/j.devcel.2011.03.019 . 1878-1551 . 21497757. free .
  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 . Nature Plants . 9 . 2 . 315–329 . en . 10.1038/s41477-022-01336-2 . 36732360 . 256545937 . 2055-0278.
  10. Samach, Alon, Jennifer E. Klenz, Susanne E. Kohalmi, Eddy Risseeuw, George W. Haughn, and William L. Crosby . The UNUSUAL FLORAL ORGANS gene of Arabidopsis thaliana is an F‐box protein required for normal patterning and growth in the floral meristem. . The Plant Journal . 1999 . 10607296 .

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