Modern garlic (Allium sativum L.) cultivars are sterile and propagated only vegetatively. The recent discovery of fertile genotypes in Central Asia and the restoration of flowering and fertility by environmental manipulations open the way for in-depth florogenetic, genetic, and molecular research in garlic. In the present work, two bolting garlic accessions were employed: #3026, developing normal flowers and seeds, and #2509, in which flowers abort at the early stages of development. Morphological studies showed transition of the apical meristems from the vegetative to the reproductive stage and inflorescence initiation in both genotypes. Low temperatures promote transition of the apex and stem elongation, but have no effect on the phenotypic expression of the inflorescence development. The initial stages of reproductive development in non-flowering #2509 plants were followed by abortion of floral primordia at the differentiation stage. A search for genes involved in the control of flowering in garlic resulted in identification of the garlic LEAFY/FLO homologue, gaLFY. Further comparative analyses of gene expression revealed two gaLFY transcripts, differing in 64 nucleotides, with clear splicing borders. The short variant transcript was identified in both genotypes throughout all development stages, whereas the long variant appears in the flowering genotype #3026 only during reproductive development. The phenotypic differences in garlic, with regard to flowering, may be associated with the efficacy of the splicing process.

In this study, in-group stereotyping was examined as a function of variations in social context and perceiver factors. The social context consisted of different comparison groups and different domains of comparison. Comparison group and comparative domain were expected to interact in determining the content of the in-group stereotype. This prediction was confirmed with in-group stereotyping being strongest in conditions where the combination of comparison group and comparative domain made the in-group seem most similar to an out-group. The perceiver's level of in-group identification was also positively related to the level of in-group stereotyping. Moreover, the level of identification was shown to be dependent on the immediate social context and mediated the relationship between social context and in-group stereotyping. This pattern is explained in terms of a search for in-group distinctiveness.