WUS — Lactuca sativa

Summary

LsWUS (WUSCHEL, WUS1, PGA6) on lettuce chromosome 3 encodes a WUSCHEL-like homeobox transcription factor that binds DNA, RNA and protein, and localises to the nucleus, nucleolus and plant-type cell wall. In lettuce, it is associated with stem cell population maintenance, shoot apical meristem identity, axillary shoot meristem initiation, flower and anther development, stomium development, callus formation, regeneration, circadian rhythm, cell division, embryo development and rRNA/tRNA/snoRNA processing. It is linked to traits including meristem identity, shoot axis branching, floral organ size, leaf morphology, flowering time, auxin sensitivity, seed maturation, root meristem development, and plant stress response. Related genes in other species connect it to shoot and floral meristem maintenance, stem cell identity, embryonic development, somatic embryogenesis, and shoot regeneration efficiency.