As a base for human transcriptome and functional genomics, we created the "full-length long Japan" (FLJ) collection of sequenced human cDNAs. We determined the entire sequence of 21,243 selected clones and found that 14,490 cDNAs (10,897 clusters) were unique to the FLJ collection. About half of them (5,416) seemed to be protein-coding. Of those, 1,999 clusters had not been predicted by computational methods. The distribution of GC content of nonpredicted cDNAs had a peak at ∼58% compared with a peak at ∼42%for predicted cDNAs. Thus, there seems to be a slight bias against GC-rich transcripts in current gene prediction procedures. The rest of the cDNAs unique to the FLJ collection (5,481) contained no obvious open reading frames (ORFs) and thus are candidate noncoding RNAs. About one-fourth of them (1,378) showed a clear pattern of splicing. The distribution of GC content of noncoding cDNAs was narrow and had a peak at ∼42%, relatively low compared with that of protein-coding cDNAs.

Axillary shoot formation is a key determinant of plant architecture. Formation of the axillary shoot is regulated by initiation of the axillary meristem or outgrowth of the axillary bud. Here, we show that rice (Oryza sativa) TILLERS ABSENT1 (TAB1; also known as Os WUS), an ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana WUS, is required to initiate axillary meristem development. We found that formation of the axillary meristem in rice proceeds via a transient state, which we term the premeristem, characterized by the expression of OSH1, a marker of indeterminate cells in the shoot apical meristem. In the tab1-1 (wus-1) mutant, however, formation of the axillary meristem is arrested at various stages of the premeristem zone, and OSH1 expression is highly reduced. TAB1/WUS is expressed in the premeristem zone, where it shows a partially overlapping pattern with OSH1. It is likely, therefore, that TAB1 plays an important role in maintaining the premeristem zone and in promoting the formation of the axillary meristem by promoting OSH1 expression. Temporal expression patterns of WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX4 (WOX4) indicate that WOX4 is likely to regulate meristem maintenance instead of TAB1 after establishment of the axillary meristem. Lastly, we show that the prophyll, the first leaf in the secondary axis, is formed from the premeristem zone and not from the axillary meristem.

The meristem initiates lateral organs in a regular manner, and proper communication between the meristem and the lateral organs ensures the normal development of plants. Here, we show that mutation of the rice (Oryza sativa) gene TONGARI-BOUSHI1 (TOB1) results in pleiotropic phenotypes in spikelets, such as the formation of a cone-shaped organ instead of the lemma or palea, the development of two florets in a spikelet, or premature termination of the floret meristem, in addition to reduced growth of the lemma or palea and elongation of the awn. These phenotypes seem to result from not only failure in growth of the lateral organs, but also defects in maintenance and organization of the meristem. For example, the coneshaped organ develops as a ring-like primordium from an initial stage, suggesting that regulation of organ initiation in the meristem may be compromised. TOB1 encodes a YABBY protein, which is closely related to FILAMENTOUS FLOWER in Arabidopsis thaliana, and is expressed in the lateral organ primordia without any patterns of polarization. No TOB1 expression is detected in the meristem, so TOB1 may act non-cell autonomously to maintain proper meristem organization and is therefore likely to play an important role in rice spikelet development.