EXPRESSION OF THE ARABIDOPSIS FLORAL HOMEOTIC GENE AGAMOUS IS RESTRICTED TO SPECIFIC CELL-TYPES LATE IN FLOWER DEVELOPMENT

Mutations in the AGAMOUS (AG) gene cause transformations in two adjacent whorls of the Arabidopsis flower. Petals develop in the third floral whorl rather than the normal stamens, and the cells that would normally develop into the fourth whorl gynoecium behave as if they constituted an ag flower primordium. Early in flower development, AG RNA is evenly distributed throughout third and fourth whorl organ primordia but is not present in the organ primordia of whorls one and two. In contrast to the early expression pattern, later in flower development, AG RNA is restricted to specific cell types within the stamens and carpels as cellular differentiation occurs in those organs. Ectopic AG expression patterns in flowers mutant for the floral homeotic gene APETELA2 (AP2), which regulates early AG expression, suggest that the late AG expression is not directly dependent on AP2 activity.