Cellules de l’épiderme d'un pétale d'Arabette des dames

Epidermal cells in a petal of thale cress (arabidopsis thaliana), observed using scanning electron microscopy at partial water vapour pressure (ESEM mode). Scientists are studying how certain transcription factors, particularly those in the MADS-box gene family (the MADS-box is a motif common to certain transcription factors, taking its name from the first four factors in which it was identified: MCM1, Agamous, Deficiens and SRF), influence the formation of flower organs (sepals, petals, stamens and the carpel), and specifically their cell surface area, which in some organs is highly specific. To this end, they modify plants by introducing certain factors (which may or may not have been mutated) into a specific regions of the SEPALLATA 3 protein and observing the impact on the plants' development. The researchers analyse wild plants and compare them with plants that express a mutated protection in a specific region.