And then there were many: MADS goes genomic.

Abstract

During the past decade, MADS-box genes have become known as key regulators in both reproductive and vegetative plant development. Traditional genetics and functional genomics tools are now available to elucidate the expression and function of this complex gene family on a much larger scale. Moreover, comparative analysis of the MADS-box genes in diverse flowering and non-flowering plants, boosted by bioinformatics, contributes to our understanding of how this important gene family has expanded during the evolution of land plants. Therefore, the recent advances in comparative and functional genomics should enable researchers to identify the full range of MADS-box gene functions, which should help us significantly in developing a better understanding of plant development and evolution.

Supplementary Data

• List of type I MADS-box genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa
• 3 classes of type I MADS-box genes(multiple alignments)
  multiple alignments of
  1. class M genes
  2. class N genes
  3. class O genes
• characteristic motifs in the C-terminal region of class M and class N genes
• MADS-like genes
• phylogenetic trees of class M and class N MADS-box genes