Skip to main content

Floral Induction Systems for the Study of Arabidopsis Flower Development

  • Protocol
  • First Online:
Flower Development

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2686))

  • 917 Accesses

Abstract

Assessing the molecular changes that occur over the course of flower development is hampered by difficulties in isolating sufficient amounts of floral tissue at specific developmental stages. This is especially problematic when investigating molecular events at early stages of Arabidopsis flower development, as floral buds are minute and are initiated sequentially so that a single flower on an inflorescence is at a given developmental stage. Moreover, young floral buds are hidden by older flowers, which presents an additional challenge for dissection. To circumvent these issues, floral induction systems that allow the simultaneous induction of a large number of flowers on the inflorescence of a single plant were developed. To allow the plant community to avail of the full benefits of these systems, we address some common problems that can be encountered when growing these plants and collecting floral buds for analysis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Protocol
USD 49.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wils CR, Kaufmann K (2017) Gene-regulatory networks controlling inflorescence and flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Biochim Biophys Acta 1860(1):95–105

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Thomson B, Wellmer F (2019) Molecular regulation of flower development. Curr Top Dev Biol 131:185–210

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. O’Maoileidigh DS, Thomson B, Raganelli A et al (2015) Gene network analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana flower development through dynamic gene perturbations. Plant J 83:344–358

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. ÓMaoiléidigh DS, Wuest SE, Rae L et al (2013) Control of reproductive floral organ identity specification in Arabidopsis by the C function regulator AGAMOUS. Plant Cell 25(7):2482–2503

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Bowman JL, Alvarez J, Weigel D et al (1993) Control of flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana by APETALA1 and interacting genes. Development 119:721–743

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Wellmer F, Alves-Ferreira M, Dubois A et al (2006) Genome-wide analysis of gene expression during early Arabidopsis flower development. PLoS Genet 2(7):e117

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Kaufmann K, Wellmer F, Muino JM et al (2010) Orchestration of floral initiation by APETALA1. Science 328(5974):85–89

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Wuest SE, O’Maoileidigh DS, Rae L et al (2012) Molecular basis for the specification of floral organs by APETALA3 and PISTILLATA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(33):13452–13457

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Smaczniak C, Immink RG, Muino JM et al (2012) Characterization of MADS-domain transcription factor complexes in Arabidopsis flower development. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(5):1560–1565

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Sun B, Xu Y, Ng KH et al (2009) A timing mechanism for stem cell maintenance and differentiation in the Arabidopsis floral meristem. Genes Dev 23(15):1791–1804

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Das P, Ito T, Wellmer F et al (2009) Floral stem cell termination involves the direct regulation of AGAMOUS by PERIANTHIA. Development 136(10):1605–1611

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Jiao Y, Meyerowitz EM (2010) Cell-type specific analysis of translating RNAs in developing flowers reveals new levels of control. Mol Syst Biol 6:419

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Yan W, Chen D, Schumacher J et al (2019) Dynamic control of enhancer activity drives stage-specific gene expression during flower morphogenesis. Nat Commun 10(1):1705

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Chen D, Yan W, Fu LY et al (2018) Architecture of gene regulatory networks controlling flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nat Commun 9(1):4534

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Ryan PT, Ó’Maoiléidigh DS, Drost H-G et al (2015) Patterns of gene expression during Arabidopsis flower development from the time of initiation to maturation. BMC Genomics 16:488

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Neumann M, Xu X, Smaczniak C et al (2022) A 3D gene expression atlas of the floral meristem based on spatial reconstruction of single nucleus RNA sequencing data. Nat Commun 13(1):2838

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  17. Zheng B, Thomson B, Wellmer F (2018) A specific knockdown of transcription factor activities in Arabidopsis. Methods Mol Biol 1830:81–92

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Work in the F.W. laboratory is funded by grants from Science Foundation Ireland and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Diarmuid Ó’Maoiléidigh or Frank Wellmer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

About this protocol

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this protocol

Ó’Maoiléidigh, D., Thomson, B., Wellmer, F. (2023). Floral Induction Systems for the Study of Arabidopsis Flower Development. In: Riechmann, J.L., Ferrándiz, C. (eds) Flower Development . Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2686. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3299-4_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3299-4_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-3298-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-3299-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

Publish with us

Policies and ethics