ABSTRACT
Although hormones have reigned supreme in understanding the physiology of plant propagation, the role of specic genes in the functioning of tissues important to propagation, such as meristems, is increasingly being understood. A number of genes have been identied that are expressed mainly in shoot meristems and not in leaves and, thus, provide insight into the process of meristem function (Barton, 2010). A few genes that functionally regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and patterning of growth include Knotted1 of maize (Ramirez et al., 2009) and the AGAMOUS of Arabidopsis (Weigel and Meyerowitz, 1993). More plant propagation-related genes are described later in this chapter.
