J. Colasanti et al., THE INDETERMINATE GENE ENCODES A ZINC-FINGER PROTEIN AND REGULATES A LEAF-GENERATED SIGNAL REQUIRED FOR THE TRANSITION TO FLOWERING IN MAIZE, Cell, 93(4), 1998, pp. 593-603
Flowering in plants is a consequence of the transition of the shoot ap
ex from vegetative to reproductive growth in response to environmental
and internal signals. The indeterminate 1 gene (id1) controls the tra
nsition to flowering in maize. We show by cloning the id1 gene that it
encodes a protein with zinc finger motifs, suggesting that the id1 ge
ne product functions as a transcriptional regulator of the floral tran
sition, id1 mRNA expression studies and analyses of transposon-induced
chimeric plants indicate that id1 acts non-cell-autonomously to regul
ate the production of a transmissible signal in the leaf that elicits
the transformation of the shoot apex to reproductive development. Thes
e results provide molecular and genetic data consistent with the flori
gen hypothesis derived from classical plant physiology studies.