Figure 2.

Detection of the LMADS3 expression. A, Total RNA was isolated from flower buds at six different developmental stages (2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 mm long, respectively), from four flower organs of 10- and 30-mm floral buds, and from vegetative leaves. For northern hybridization, LMADS3-specific DNA probes (without MADS box domain) were used. The results indicate that a 1-kb band of the RNA for LMADS3 is specifically detectable during all stages of flower development and is expressed in all four floral organs. No signals could be detected in vegetative leaves for LMADS3. An ethidium bromide (EtBr)-stained gel before blotting and hybridization is shown as a control. S, Sepal; P, petal; St, stamen; and C, carpel. B, Total RNA isolated from inflorescence meristem (Im), inflorescence stem before flowering (Vs) and after flowering (Rs), vegetative leaves (Lf), and 2-mm-long flower buds (fb) were used as templates for RT-PCR. The results indicate that LMADS3 mRNA is detectable in the inflorescence meristem and in flower buds yet was absent in leaf and stem. This experiment was repeated twice with similar results. rRNA stained in an EtBr gel was used to show the amount of RNA used for each RT-PCR reactions.