EMF, an Arabidopsis Gene Required for Vegetative Shoot Development.

In higher plants, the transition from the vegetative to the; reproductive state in the shoot meristem initiates flowering. To study this floral transition, Constitutively flowering mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype columbia, embryonic flower (emf), was characterized. No vegetative shoots were produced from emf embryos or calli; the shoot apical meristems (SAMs) in the emf embryos were altered compared to wild-type SAMs. The mutant SAMs enlarged precociously and produced inflorescence meritems upon germination. These results suggest that the dominant, wild-type allele EMF is required for the vegetative state of the SAM. In the absence of EMF function, the mutant embryo assumes the reproductive state.