Sarah J. Liljegren
= Sarah J. Liljegren
{c}
<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.<SHATTERPROOF MADS-box genes control seed dispersal in Arabidopsis by Sarah J. Liljegren and others>[Abstract and author byline; Nature 404, 766–770, 2000]{ref}
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>.<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]{ref}