PI — Lactuca sativa

Summary

LsPI (also known as PI or GLO) on chromosome 1 of garden lettuce (Lactuca sativa) encodes a MADS-box transcription factor containing a MEF2-like N-terminal domain. The product has DNA-binding, transcription factor, protein dimerization, and kinase activities. LsPI is associated with the specification and maintenance of floral organ identity, particularly petal and stamen identity, as well as floral meristem identity and maintenance. It is linked to flower morphology traits including petal number, stamen morphology, carpel shape, and floral organ size, and to traits such as photoperiod-sensitive flowering time, days to flowering, plant male sterility, and seed longevity. The gene is also connected to leaf margin morphology, leaf curling, trichome morphology, photosynthetic rate, high temperature stress response, and bacterial blight disease resistance.