Molecular mechanisms on inhibition of flower initiation in shoot apical meristems controlled by developing seeds

• Project/Area Number: 25650102
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Plant molecular biology/Plant physiology
• Research Institution: National Institute for Basic Biology
• Principal Investigator: KANAI Masatake 基礎生物学研究所, 多様性生物学研究室, 特別協力研究員 (30611488)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
• Keywords: 花芽形成 / 種子 / シグナル伝達 / シロイヌナズナ / 老化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Plants produce flowers for seed formation. Increase of flower number improves seed yields of crop plants. This study focuses on the molecular mechanisms on inhibitory mechanisms of flower initiation in shoot apical meristems controlled by developing seeds. We screened three mutants increased flower number of lateral branches. These mutants were deficient in chloroplast degradation and showed a stay green phenotype. These results indicate that flower number is closely related to leaf senescence.