Proceedings of the XLVI Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics - SIGA Annual Congress

Giardini Naxos, Italy - 18/21 September, 2002

ISBN 88-900622-3-1

Poster Abstract - 5.21

Mapping and dissection of AtMYB11 promoter from Arabidopsis

Petroni K., Calvenzani V., Allegra D., Tonelli C.

Dipartimento di Genetica e Biologia dei Microrganismi, Via Celoria 26, 20133 Milano, Italy

transcription factors, MYB-like genes, Arabidopsis, meristem, promoter

In vertebrates MYB proteins form a small family with a central role in controlling cellular proliferation, cell cycle progression and differentiation, while higher plants contain a large number of MYB genes with mainly unknown functions. Despite single- and three-repeat MYB proteins have been found, the R2R3-MYB subfamily remains predominant in plants. In Arabidopsis, more than 125 R2R3-MYB genes have been identified, representing one of the widest family of plant transcription factors described. The information available on the function of a few plant MYB proteins suggest an important role of this family in various processes like: the regulation of metabolic pathways, the control of cell division and of plant morphogenesis, the response of plants to different stresses and in hormone signal transduction.

One of the MYB genes under study in our laboratory is expressed throughout flower development and in 4 days-old seedlings, where the activation is mediated by light. Furthermore, in 4 days-old seedlings the transcript is mainly present in the vegetative meristem and in cotyledons, while during flower development the transcript is present in the inflorescence meristem and floral apex, in all flower bud except sepals, in ovule primordia, mature ovules, ovary wall and in the epidermis of embryos. Aim of the present work is the exact mapping of the full-length promoter and the identification of the cis-regulatory element which drives the expression of this gene in a tissue-specific and developmental-specific manner within the embryo epidermis and /or the flower.