Flowers have long fascinated humans for both their beauty and morphological diversity. In Arabidopsis thaliana, flowers arise iteratively from the periphery of the inflorescence meristem, a dome-shaped structure at the apex of the plant. Floral meristems give rise to floral organ primordia at precise positions . Floral organ primordia adopt one of four fates (sepal, petal, stamen or carpel) based on their relative position within the developing flower. The Arabidopsis transcription factors AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 (AIL6) are required for correct positioning of floral organ initiation. They also contribute to the specification of floral organ identity and regulate the growth and morphogenesis of developing floral organs. In their new study, Dr. Beth Krizek and her colleagues investigated the molecular mechanisms by which ANT and AIL6 regulate early events in flower development.  They identified the genome-wide binding sites of both ANT and AIL6 in stage 3 flower primordia and discovered that both transcription factors directly regulate genes involved in different aspects of early flower development, including genes that specify floral organ identity or regulate growth and vascular development.