Many staple foods such as grains and fruits derive from flowering plants. Flowers are formed from groups of dividing stem cells at the ends of shoots, and the division of these cells stops at a particular stage of development once floral components have formed. A new study by scientists at Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) provides new molecular insight into the coordination of these processes by showing the interplay between two genes, CRABS CLAW and TORNADO2. The findings, published in Nature Communications, describe key molecular events that must occur for stem cells to stop growing and transition into the development of reproductive organs. They show that the plant hormone auxin controls the change from cell division to female reproductive development.