LEAFY (abbreviated LFY) is a

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

that causes groups of undifferentiated

cells Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a d ...

called

meristem In cell biology, the meristem is a structure composed of specialized tissue found in plants, consisting of stem cells, known as meristematic cells, which are undifferentiated cells capable of continuous cellular division. These meristematic c ...

s to develop into

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s instead of leaves with associated

shoot Shoot most commonly refers to: * Shoot (botany), an immature plant or portion of a plant * Shooting, the firing of projectile weapons * Photo shoot, a photography session; an event wherein a photographer takes photographs Shoot may also refer t ...

s. ''LEAFY'' is involved in floral meristem identity. ''LEAFY'' encodes a plant-specific

transcription factor In molecular biology, a transcription factor (TF) (or sequence-specific DNA-binding factor) is a protein that controls the rate of transcription (genetics), transcription of genetics, genetic information from DNA to messenger RNA, by binding t ...

, is found in all land plants and in

charophytes Charophyta () is a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of freshwater green algae, called charophytes (), sometimes treated as a Division (taxonomy), division, yet also as a Division (taxonomy), superdivision. The terrestrial plants, the Embryophyta em ...

and one of its

exon An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequence ...

s have been used extensively in phylogenetic work on

spermatophyte A seed plant or spermatophyte (; New Latin ''spermat-'' and Greek ' (phytón), plant), also known as a phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or a phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds. It is a category of embryophyte (i.e. la ...

s. When the gene is overexpressed, the plant is less sensitive to environmental signals and flowers earlier. The LEAFY protein has two conserved domains: the DNA binding domain, a

helix-turn-helix Helix-turn-helix is a DNA-binding domain (DBD). The helix-turn-helix (HTH) is a major structural motif capable of binding DNA. Each monomer incorporates two alpha helix, α helices, joined by a short strand of amino acids, that bind to the majo ...

motif buried inside a unique 7-helix fold and a Sterile Alpha Motif. It binds DNA as a dimer and its binding site has been identified both in vivo and in vitro. The F-box protein Unusual Floral Organs (UFO) is able to redirect LFY to binding sites that LFY cannot access alone and, together, they regulate genes involved in petal and stamen development (such as APETALA3, PISTILLATA or RABBIT EARS).

References

Plant development Plant genes Mutation {{Genetics-stub