Specification and maintenance of the floral meristem: interactions between positivelyacting promoters of flowering and negative regulators

Abstract

A combination of environmental factors and endogenous cues trigger floral meristem initiation on the flanks of the shoot meristem. A plethora of regulatory genes have been implicated in this process. They function either as activators or as repressors of floral initiation. This review describes the mode of their action in a regulatory network that ensures the correct temporal and spatial control of floral meristem specification, its maintenance and determinate development.