MUTE — Daucus carota subsp. sativus

Summary

DCAR_030600, the carrot MUTE gene on chromosome 9, encodes a bHLH transcription factor belonging to the FAMA/SPEECHLESS/MUTE family. It localises to the nucleus and exhibits core promoter and cis-regulatory region sequence-specific DNA binding, protein dimerization activity, and DNA-binding transcription factor activity. In carrot, DcMUTE is associated with stomatal lineage progression, guard cell and guard mother cell differentiation, stomatal complex development, and plant epidermal cell differentiation. It is also linked to seed morphogenesis, seed dormancy, endosperm development, and regulation of abscisic acid anabolism and signaling. Associations extend to temperature stress response, stamen morphology, pollen fertility, germination rate, seedling growth and development, leaf senescence, root length, flowering time, and disease tolerance. Studies of related genes in other species link the family to stomatal development, cold stress tolerance, drought tolerance, and seed dormancy.