Genetic and Molecular Analysis of the Maize kn1 Gene

[9417916] Hake实验表明，含有基因kn1的同源盒是影响玉米和拟南芥分生组织发育的一个合理的候选基因。为了理解kn1是如何起作用的，我们将采用多种方法。将获得其他丧失功能的突变体。对玉米Ds诱导显性等位基因的转座元件Ds的切除进行分析，并获得拟南芥同源基因的反义表型。将采用两种方法分离潜在的下游靶基因。拟南芥过表达表型将用于分离抑制子和寻找表达模式与kn1或其同系物异位表达相关的增强子陷阱系。同时，从玉米打结叶片中提取的减法文库将用于分离在打结叶片中表现出比正常叶片更高表达的克隆。这些克隆将被鉴定并确定表达模式。植物的发育是通过分生组织的作用发生的，分生组织是一组自我更新的细胞，其衍生物精心设计了成熟植物的器官。为了了解分生组织的功能，确定在分生组织中起作用的基因是很重要的。含有kn1同源盒的基因是影响分生组织发育的基因的合理候选基因，将采取各种实验和方法来了解该基因的功能。＊＊＊

9417916 Hake Experiments suggest that the homeobox containing gene, kn1, is a reasonable candidate for a gene which influences meristem development in both maize and Arabidopsis. A variety of approaches will be taken in order to understand how kn1 functions. Additional loss-of-function mutants will be obtained. Excisions of the transposable element Ds from a Ds-induced dominant allele in corn will be analyzed and anti-sense phenotypes of the Arabidopsis homologue will be obtained. Two approaches for isolating potential downstream target genes will be taken. The Arabidopsis over expression phenotype will be used to isolate suppressors and to find enhancer trap lines whose expression patterns change in relation to ectopic expression of kn1 or its homologue. Concurrently, a subtractive library made from maize knotted leaves will be used to isolate clones that show increased expression in knotted leaves as compared to normal leaves. Those clones will be characterized and expression patterns determined. %%% Plant development occurs by the action of meristems, groups of self-renewing cells whose derivatives elaborate the organs of the mature plant. In order to understand how the meristem functions, it is important to identify genes that play a role in the meristem. The kn1 homeobox containing gene is a reasonable candidate for a gene which influences meristem development and a variety of experiments and approaches will be taken in order to understand how this gene functions. ***