Why do you think this paper is highly cited?

We have used a relatively new method of plant functional genomics, called Activation Tagging, to identify a central regulator of plant pigment synthesis. This factor, named Production of Anthocyanin Pigment1 (PAP1), has a redundant partner which previously hindered its identification using traditional methods. The PAP1 regulator was known to be important from work in corn and petunia, and has now been discovered in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

  Could you summarize the significance of your paper in laymen's terms?

Our paper describes one of the earliest examples of activation tagging, a method that has now been used to discover gene function in many biological systems including those where classical genetics is quite difficult. In addition PAP1 is a member of a multigene family, with over 100 members in plants, that are similar in sequence to oncogenes from humans. Due to their beautiful colors and relatively simple inheritance, floral pigments, were used as genetic markers as early as Mendel's time, and continue to be an important tool to understand molecular genetics today.