= FRUITFULL
{c}
<FRUITFULL>, also called FUL or AGL8, is an <Arabidopsis thaliana> developmental regulatory <gene> encoding a <MADS-box transcription factor>. In the <fruit>, it helps establish normal valve tissue identity. The gene, its protein product and a mutant plant's <phenotype> are different levels of description.
The 1998 study of the ful-1 <mutant> identified an inserted enhancer-trap element disrupting the gene. A reporter marked valve tissue, and mutant valve <cells> failed to elongate and differentiate normally.<The FRUITFULL MADS-box gene mediates cell differentiation during Arabidopsis fruit development by Q. Gu and others>[Abstract; mutation, reporter localization and valve-cell phenotypes]{ref} Comparing local expression and cell anatomy supplies more mechanistic information than noting only that a mature <fruit> is short.
A later genetic analysis clarified that the effect need not mean that <FRUITFULL> directly drives every elongation step. Its regulatory role includes preventing misplaced <INDEHISCENT> activity.<Control of Fruit Patterning in Arabidopsis by INDEHISCENT by Sarah J. Liljegren and others>[Abstract; FUL function and ectopic IND activity]{ref} In a causal comparison, defective growth machinery and altered tissue identity can both produce a short organ. Perturbing the regulatory pathway and measuring which identity develops helps distinguish those explanations. The combined history connects <gene expression>, <cell differentiation>, <fruit dehiscence> and <seed dispersal> without treating final organ length as a direct assay of a single molecular function.
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