TCD Scientists Make Significant Breakthrough in Genetic Processes of Flower Development

Posted on: 06 April 2010

An international collaborative research group, involving scientists from the Plant Developmental Genetics laboratory at Trinity College Dublin, has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the genetic processes underlying flower development. The research funded by Science Foundation Ireland is published today in the leading international journal, Science.

Flowers and the seeds and fruits that they produce are important sources of food and energy and are thus of great economical importance. How flowers are formed has been studied intensively over the past two decades and many genes that are involved in this important biological process have been identified, especially in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis belongs to the mustard family and is closely related to agriculturally important plants such as oilseed rape and cauliflower and is widely used by researchers for studying the biological processes underlying plant growth and development.

Despite the progress that has been made in identifying genes involved in flower development, it is currently unclear how these genes function at a molecular level. The gene APETALA1 controls the first steps of flower formation in Arabidopsis and is thus central to the reproductive development of this plant. The APETALA1 gene codes for a transcription factor, a protein that regulates the activity of other genes. Using state-of-the-art experimental approaches, the collaborative research group has identified the genes that are regulated by the APETALA1 protein on a global scale.

Commenting on the significance of the findings, TCD’s Dr Frank Wellmer of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics and one of the lead authors of the study said: “Our findings provide new, detailed insights into the genetic processes underlying the onset of flower development. We now know which genes need to be turned on and off so that flowers can form. This is an exciting step forward for our understanding of how flowering plants enter into the reproductive phase. Ultimately, we may be able to use this information to generate crop plants with improved yields.”

The research at Trinity College was conducted as part of a collaboration with research groups from Spain, the Netherlands and the United States.

Funding was provided by Science Foundation Ireland under the Principal Investigator programme.