The degree to which the eudicot-based ABC model of flower organ identity applies to the other major subclass of angrosperms, the monocots, has yet to be fully explored. We cloned silky1 (si1), a male sterile mutant of Zea mays that has homeotic conversions of stamens into carpels and lodicules into palea/lemma-like structures. Our studies indicate that si1 is a monocot B function MADS box gene. Moreover, the si1 zag1 double mutant produces a striking spikelet phenotype where normal glumes enclose reiterated palea/lemma-like organs. These studies indicate that B function gene activity is conserved among monocots as well as eudicots. In addition, they provide compelling developmental evidence for recognizing lodicules as modified petals and, possibly, palea and lemma as modified sepals.

Studies on distantly related dicot plant species have identified homeotic genes that specify floral meristem identity and determine the fate of floral organ primordia. Most of these genes belong to a family characterized by the presence of a structural motif, the MADS-box, which encodes a protein domain with DNA-binding properties. As part of an effort to understand how such genes may have been recruited during the evolution of flowers with different organ types such as those found in maize, two members of this gene family in maize, ZAG1 and ZAG2, have been characterized previously. Here, the isolation and characterization of four new members of this gene family, designated ZAP1, ZAG3, ZAG4 and ZAG5, are described and the genetic map position of these and 28 additional maize MADS-box genes is determined. The first new member of this family appears to be the Zea mays ortholog of the floral homeotic gene APETALA1 (AP1) and has been designated ZAP1. One of these genes, ZAG4, is unusual in that its deduced protein sequence includes the MADS domain but lacks the K-domain characteristically present in this family of genes. In addition, its copy number and expression varies among different inbreds. A large number of maize MADS-box genes map to duplicated regions of the genome, including one pair characterized here, ZAG3 and ZAG5. These data underscore the complexity of this gene family in maize, and provide the basis for further studies into the regulation of floral organ morphogenesis among the grasses.

Mutation rate balances the need to protect genome integrity with the advantage of evolutionary innovations. Microorganisms increase their mutation rate when stressed, perhaps addressing the growing need for evolutionary innovation. Such a strategy, however, is only beneficial under moderate stresses that allow cells to divide and realize their mutagenic potential. In contrast, severe stresses rapidly kill the majority of the population with the exception of a small minority of cells that are in a phenotypically distinct state termed persistence. Although persisters were discovered many decades ago, the stochastic event triggering persistence is poorly understood. We report that spontaneous DNA damage triggers persistence in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by activating the general stress response, providing protection against a range of harsh stress and drug environments. We further show that the persister subpopulation carries an increased load of genetic variants in the form of insertions, deletions or large structural variations, which are unrelated to their stress survival. This coupling of DNA damage to phenotypic persistence may increase genetic diversity specifically in severe stress conditions, where diversity is beneficial but the ability to generate de novo mutations is limited.

Cereal lectins are a class of biochemically and antigenically related proteins localized in a tissue-specific manner in embryos and adult plants. To study the specificity of lectin expression, a barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) embryo cDNA library was constructed and a clone (BLc3) for barley lectin was isolated. BLc3 is 972 nucleotides long and includes an open reading frame of 212 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence contains a putative signal peptide of 26 amino acid residues followed by a 186 amino acid polypeptide. This polypeptide has 95% sequence identity to the antigenically indistinguishable wheat germ agglu-tinin isolectin-B (WGA-B) suggesting that BLc3 encodes barley lectin. Further evidence that BLc3 encodes barley lectin was obtained by immunoprecipitation of the in vitro translation products of BLc3 RNA transcripts and barley embryo poly(A) RNA. In situ hybridizations with BLc3 showed that barley lectin gene expression is confined to the outermost cell layers of both em-bryonic and adult root tips. On Northem blots, BLc3 hybridizes to a 1.0 kilobyte mRNA in poly(A+) RNA from both embryos and root tips. We suggest, on the basis of immunoblot experiments, that barley lectin is synthesized as a glycosylated precursor and processed by removal of a portion of the carboxyl terminus including the single N-linked glycosylation site. dimers of WGA isolectins form in vivo by random association of the isolectin monomers (12). Direct sequencing of all three isolectin genes has revealed greater than 90% sequence identity between them (22). These features of the WGA system have made molecular and cellular studies of individual isolec-tin expression particularly difficult. In this study, we have circumvented the difficulties of the WGA system by studying barley lectin. Barley, a diploid, contains a lectin shown to be antigenically indistinguishable from WGA (24). The lectins are so similar that active heter-odimers containing wheat and barley lectin subunits can be formed in vitro (13). Barley lectin accumulates in the embry-onic and adult root tips, but unlike in wheat, rye, and rice; no lectin is found in the coleoptile (9). By studying lectin expression in barley, we avoid the possible complications of discerning coleoptile-specific versus root-specific regulatory elements and differential expression of isolectins. A barley lectin cDNA clone, BLc3,3 was isolated from a barley embryo X-gtlO library. Using this clone as an in situ hybridization probe we localized lectin mRNA in the embryonic and adult root tips. We also present evidence that the barley lectin precursor is glycosylated and undergoes carboxyl terminal processing to produce the mature polypeptide. Lectins are a class of proteins with very specific carbohydrate binding properties. Many of the plant lectins are well characterized in their sugar binding specificities and, in some cases, the crystalline structure of the protein is known (2). In spite ofthis, the biological significance ofplant lectins remains elusive (2). The Gramineae lectins all s...

Murine monoclonal antibodies to protoplast membrne antigens were generated using mouse myelomas and spleen cells from mice immunized with Nicotiana tabacum L. leaf protoplasts. For selecting antibody-secreting clones, a sensitive and rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for monoclonal antibody binding to immobilized cellular membrane preparations or immobilized protoplasts was developed. With intact protoplasts as immobilized antigen, the ELISA is selective for antibodies that bind to plasma-membrane epitopes present on the external surface of protoplasts. Using the membrane ELISA, a total of 24 hybridoma lines were identified that secreted antibodies to plant membrane epitopes. The protoplast ELISA and subsequent immunofluorescence studies identified four hybridoma lines as secreting antibodies which bound to the external surface of protoplasts and cells. The corresponding antigens were not species- or tissue-specific, were periodatesensitive, and were located in membranes which equilibrated broadly throughout a linear sucrose gradient. When protein blots of electrophoretically separated membrane proteins were probed with these antibodies, a band of Mr 14 kilodaltons (kDa) and a smear of bands of Mr 45-120 kDa were labeled. An additional set of three antibodies appeared by immunofluorescence to bind to the plasma membrane of broken but not intact protoplasts and labeled membranes equilibrating at a density of approx. 1.12 kg·l(-1) in a linear sucrose density gradient. These classes of monoclonal antibodies enlarge the library of monoclonal antibodies (Norman et al. 1986, Planta 167, 452-459) available for the study of plant plasma-membrane structure and function.