Genetic and Phenotypic Analyses of Carpel Development in Arabidopsis

Carpels are the female reproductive organs of the flower, organized in a gynoecium, which is likely the most complex organ of the plant. The gynoecium provides protection for the ovules, helps to discriminate between male gametophytes, and facilitates successful pollination. After fertilization, it develops into a fruit, a specialized organ for seed protection and dispersal. To carry out all these functions, coordinated patterning and tissue specification within the developing gynoecium has to be achieved. In this chapter, we provide different methods to characterize defects in carpel morphogenesis and patterning associated with developmental mutations, as well as a list of reporter lines that can be used to facilitate genetic analyses.