Binding to produce flowers
Thursday, April 21, 2016 - 08:30
in Biology & Nature
The LEAFY protein, a transcription factor responsible for flower development, is able to assemble itself in small chains made up of several proteins. This mechanism allows it to bind to and activate regions of the genome that are inaccessible to a single protein. These results were obtained by scientists in the Laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire Végétale (CNRS/Inra/CEA/Université Grenoble Alpes) and the Institut de Biologie Structurale (CNRS/CEA/Université Grenoble Alpes), working in collaboration with their international partners. Published on 21 April 2016 in Nature Communications, they open the way to new research opportunities regarding the regulation of gene expression.