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Plant genetics: a decade of integration

Nature Genetics volume 33, pages 294–304 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

The last decade provided the plant science community with the complete genome sequence of Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, tools to investigate the function of potentially every plant gene, methods to dissect virtually any aspect of the plant life cycle, and a wealth of information on gene expression and protein function. Focusing on Arabidopsis as a model system has led to an integration of the plant sciences that triggered the development of new technologies and concepts benefiting plant research in general. These enormous changes led to an unprecedented increase in our understanding of the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms of developmental, physiological and biochemical processes, some of which will be discussed in this article.

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Figure 1: Progress in our molecular genetic understanding of flower development.
Figure 2: Plants respond to environmental light conditions through several distinct photoreceptors with sensitivities ranging from far-red/red in phytochromes, to blue/ultraviolet-A in cryptochromes and phototropins, to ultraviolet-B in as yet unidentified receptors (top)62,63,64,65,66,67.
Figure 3: Plant-pathogen interactions.
Figure 4: From QTL to QTN.
Figure 5: Epigenetic phenomena and underlying mechanisms.

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Acknowledgements

We apologize to colleagues whose research areas we could not cover. We thank J. Banks, C. Chapple, S. Curtis, R. Dudler, Y. Eshed, S. Goodwin, M. Green, M. Koornneef, C. Lagarias, S. Lolle, S. Scofield, D. Smyth and J.-R. Xu for critically reading the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indianapolis, 47907-1155, USA

    Robert E. Pruitt

  2. Arabidopsis Molecular Genetics Course, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, 11724, New York, USA

    Robert E. Pruitt, John L. Bowman & Ueli Grossniklaus

  3. Section of Plant Biology, One Shields Avenue, University of California at Davis, Davis, 95616, California, USA

    John L. Bowman

  4. Institute of Plant Biology & Zürich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zürich, CH-8008, Switzerland

    Ueli Grossniklaus

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Pruitt, R., Bowman, J. & Grossniklaus, U. Plant genetics: a decade of integration. Nat Genet 33 (Suppl 3), 294–304 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1108

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