Sarah J. Liljegren is a researcher in plant development and genetics. In a 2000 collaborative study, she investigated how the SHATTERPROOF genes SHATTERPROOF1 and SHATTERPROOF2 control fruit dehiscence, the opening of a mature fruit that releases its seeds. These genes encode MADS-box transcription factors and help specify the tissues where the fruit opens.[ref]
SHATTERPROOF MADS-box genes control seed dispersal in Arabidopsis by Sarah J. Liljegren and others. Abstract and author byline; Nature 404, 766–770, 2000
The comparison between single and double mutants is illuminating. Disabling either SHATTERPROOF1 or SHATTERPROOF2 alone produced no new visible phenotype, while disrupting both impaired normal fruit dehiscence. This is an example of genetic redundancy: an experiment on only one gene could miss a shared developmental function. The combined mutant and constitutive-expression experiments connected these genes with the differentiation of the opening zone and lignin deposition in neighboring cells, linking gene activity to the mechanics of seed dispersal.[ref]
SHATTERPROOF MADS-box genes control seed dispersal in Arabidopsis by Sarah J. Liljegren and others. Abstract: single versus double mutants, dehiscence-zone differentiation and adjacent lignification
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