EARLY ABORTION 1 is an evolutionary conserved gene required for plant reproduction

The functions of approximately one-third of the proteins in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana remain unknown. It is likely that some of the genes encoding these proteins are essential, and thus indispensable for the survival of the plant; furthermore, these genes would be included in the minimum viable set required for plant life. Evolutionarily conserved single copy genes in flowering plants are enriched in essential housekeeping functions. Building on this observation, we designed a reverse