Flower structure, genetic regulation

Visual cues are of critical importance for the attraction of animal pollinators, however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underpinning intraspecific floral colour variation. Here, we combined comparative spectral analysis, targeted metabolite profiling, multi-tissue transcriptomics, differential gene expression, sequence analysis and functional analysis to investigate a bee-pollinated orchid species, Glossodia major with common purple- and infrequent white-flowered morphs. We found uncommon and previously unreported delphinidin-based anthocyanins responsible for the conspicuous and pollinator-perceivable colour of the purple morph and three genetic changes underpinning the loss of colour in the white morph - (1) a loss-of-function (LOF; frameshift) mutation affecting dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR1) coding sequence due to a unique 4-bp insertion, (2) specific downregulation of functional DFR1 expression and (3) the unexpected discovery of chimeric Gypsy transposable element (TE)-gene (DFR) transcripts with potential consequences to the genomic stability and post-transcriptional or epigenetic regulation of DFR...

Bulbil is an important asexual reproductive structure of bulbil plants. It mainly grows in leaf axils, leaf forks, tubers and the upper and near ground ends of flower stems of plants. They play a significant role in the reproduction of numerous herbaceous plant species by serving as agents of plant propagation, energy reserves, and survival mechanisms in adverse environmental conditions. Despite extensive research on bulbil-plants regarding their resources, development mechanisms, and utilisation, a comprehensive review of bulbil is lacking, hindering progress in exploiting bulbil resources...

Petal blotch is a specific flower color pattern commonly found in angiosperm families. In particular, Rosa persica is characterized by dark red blotches at the base of yellow petals. Modern rose cultivars with blotches inherited the blotch trait from R. persica . Therefore, understanding the mechanism for blotch formation is crucial for breeding rose cultivars with various color patterns. In this study, the metabolites and genes responsible for the blotch formation in R. persica were identified for the first time through metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses using LC-MS/MS and RNA-seq...

INTRODUCTION: The APETALA2/ethylene response factor (AP2/ERF) superfamily plays a significant role in regulating plant gene expression in response to growth and development. To date, there have been no studies into whether the ramie AP2/ERF genes are involved in the regulation of flower development. METHODS: Here, 84 BnAP2/ERF members were identified from the ramie genome database, and various bioinformatics data on the AP2/ERF gene family, structure, replication, promoters and regulatory networks were analysed...

Cleistogamy is a type of self-pollination that relies on the formation of a stigma-enclosing floral structure. We identify three homeodomain-leucine zipper IV (HD-Zip IV) genes that coordinately promote the formation of interlocking trichomes at the anther margin to unite neighboring anthers, generating a closed anther cone and cleistogamy (flower morphology necessitating strict self-pollination). These HD-Zip IV genes also control style length by regulating the transition from cell division to endoreduplication...

Monocarpic plants have a single reproductive phase in their life. Therefore, flower and fruit production are restricted to the length of this period. This reproductive strategy involves the regulation of flowering cessation by a coordinated arrest of the growth of the inflorescence meristems, optimizing resource allocation to ensure seed filling. Flowering cessation appears to be a regulated phenomenon in all monocarpic plants. Early studies in several species identified seed production as a major factor triggering inflorescence proliferative arrest...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The timing of flowering onset often correlates with latitude, indicative of climatic gradients. Flowering onset in temperate species commonly requires exposure to cold temperatures, known as vernalization. Hence, population differentiation of flowering onset with latitude might reflect adaptation to the local climatic conditions experienced by populations. METHODS: Within its Western range, seeds from Linum bienne populations (the wild relative of cultivated L...

Flower development is a crucial step towards the completion of the plant life cycle. Physiological processes and gene regulatory mechanisms underlying flower formation have been extensively characterized, and the implication of MADS-box transcription factors as primary regulators of flower morphology has been widely described, mainly due to the analysis of loss-of-function mutants in model species. Nevertheless, detailed characterization of allele variation in several MADS-box homologous genes from crop species remains undescribed...

The BrrFT paralogues exhibit distinct expression patterns and play different roles in regulating flowering time, and BrrFT4 competes with BrrFT1 and BrrFT2 to interact with BrrFD proteins. Flowering time is an important agricultural trait for Brassica crops, and early bolting strongly affects the yield and quality of Brassica rapa ssp. rapa. Flowering Locus T paralogues play an important role in regulating flowering time. In this study, we identified FT-related genes in turnip by phylogenetic classification, and four BrrFT homoeologs that shared with high identities with BraFT genes were isolated...

YABBY gene family is a plant-specific transcription factor with DNA binding domain involved in various functions i.e. regulation of style, length of flowers, and polarity development of lateral organs in flowering plants. Computational methods were utilized to identify members of the YABBY gene family, with Carrot (Daucus carota) 's genome as a foundational reference. The structure of genes, location of the chromosomes, protein motifs and phylogenetic investigation, syntony and transcriptomic analysis, and miRNA targets were analyzed to unmask the hidden structural and functional characteristics YABBY gene family in Carrots...

The plant-specific SQUAMOSA promoter-binding protein-like (SPL) transcription factors play a pivotal role in various developmental processes, including leaf morphogenesis and vegetative to reproductive phase transition. Liriodendron chinense and Liriodendron tulipifera are widely used in landscaping due to their tulip-like flowers and peculiar leaves. However, the SPL gene family in Liriodendron has not been identified and systematically characterized. We systematically identified and characterized the SPL family members in Liriodendron , including phylogeny, gene structure and syntenic analyses...

The flowering loci of cabbage must be understood to boost their productivity. In this study, to clarify the flowering mechanisms of cabbage, we examined the three flowering repressors BoFLC1 , 2 and 3 , and the flowering regulators BoGI , BoCOOLAIR , and BoVIN3 of early (CAB1), middle (CAB3), and late (CAB5) flowering cabbage genotypes. Analysis of allele-specifically amplified genomic DNA and various sequence alignments demonstrated that maximal insertions and deletions influenced cabbage flowering behavior, notably in CAB3 and CAB5...

BACKGROUND: RNA secondary structure (RSS) can influence the regulation of transcription, RNA processing, and protein synthesis, among other processes. 3' untranslated regions (3' UTRs) of mRNA also hold the key for many aspects of gene regulation. However, there are often contradictory results regarding the roles of RSS in 3' UTRs in gene expression in different organisms and/or contexts. RESULTS: Here, we incidentally observe that the primary substrate of miR159a (pri-miR159a), when embedded in a 3' UTR, could promote mRNA accumulation...

HanMYB1 was found to play positive roles in the modulation of anthocyanins metabolism based on the integrative analysis of different color cultivars and the related molecular genetic analyses. As a high value ornamental and edible crop with various colors, sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) provide an ideal system to understand the formation of flower color. Anthocyanins are major pigments in higher plants, which is associated with development of flower colors and ability of oxidation resistance. Here, we performed an integrative analysis of the transcriptome and flavonoid metabolome in five sunflower cultivars with different flower colors...

BACKGROUND: Flowering plays an important role in completing the reproductive cycle of plants and obtaining next generation of plants. In case of citrus, it may take more than a year to achieve progeny. Therefore, in order to fasten the breeding processes, the juvenility period needs to be reduced. The juvenility in plants is regulated by set of various flowering genes. The citrus fruit and leaves possess various medicinal properties and are subjected to intensive breeding programs to produce hybrids with improved quality traits...

BACKGROUND: Lipoxygenase (LOX) is a multifunctional enzyme that is primarily related to plant organ growth and development, biotic and abiotic stress responses, and production of flavor-associated metabolites. In higher plants, the LOX family encompasses several isozymes with varying expression patterns between tissues and developmental stages. These affect processes including seed germination, seed storage, seedling growth, fruit ripening, and leaf senescence. LOX family genes have multiple functions in response to hormones such as methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid...

UNLABELLED: WNK kinases are a unique class of serine/threonine protein kinases that lack a conserved catalytic lysine residue in the kinase domain, hence the name WNK (with no K, i.e., lysine). WNK kinases are involved in various physiological processes in plants, such as circadian rhythm, flowering time, and stress responses. In this study, we identified 26 WNK genes in soybean and analyzed their phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, chromosomal distribution, cis -regulatory elements, expression patterns, and conserved protein motifs...

SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN-LIKEs (SPLs) encode plant-specific transcription factors that regulate plant growth and development, stress response, and metabolite accumulation. However, there is limited information on Scutellaria baicalensis SPLs. In this study, 14 SbSPLs were identified and divided into 8 groups based on phylogenetic relationships. SbSPLs in the same group had similar structures. Abscisic acid-responsive (ABRE) and MYB binding site (MBS) cis-acting elements were found in the promoters of 8 and 6 SbSPLs...

Background: C2H2-zinc finger transcription factors comprise one of the largest and most diverse gene superfamilies and are involved in the transcriptional regulation of flowering. Although a large number of C2H2 zinc-finger proteins (C2H2-ZFPs) have been well characterized in a number of model plant species, little is known about their expression and function in Coptis teeta . C. teeta displays two floral phenotypes (herkogamy phenotypes). It has been proposed that the C2H2-zinc finger transcription factor family may play a crucial role in the formation of floral development and herkogamy observed in C...

To comprehensively understand the characteristics of the GH3 gene family in tea plants (Camellia sinensis), we identified 17 CsGH3 genes and analyzed their physicochemical properties, phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, promoters, and expression patterns in different tissues. The study showed that the 17 CsGH3 genes are distributed on 9 chromosomes, and based on evolutionary analysis, the CsGH3 members were divided into three subgroups. Gene duplication analysis revealed that segmental duplications have a significant impact on the amplification of CsGH3 genes...