Flower-Specific Overproduction of Cytokinins Altered Flower Development and Sex Expression in the Perennial Woody Plant L.

Int J Mol Sci

CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resources and Sustainable Use, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, The Innovative Academy of Seed Design, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla 666303, China.

Published: January 2020

L. is monoecious with a low female-to-male ratio, which is one of the factors restricting its seed yield. Because the phytohormone cytokinins play an essential role in flower development, particularly pistil development, in this study, we elevated the cytokinin levels in flowers through transgenic expression of a cytokinin biosynthetic gene () from Arabidopsis under the control of a orthologue of () promoter that is predominantly active in flowers. As expected, the levels of six cytokinin species in the inflorescences were elevated, and flower development was modified without any alterations in vegetative growth. In the transgenic plants, the flower number per inflorescence was significantly increased, and most flowers were pistil-predominantly bisexual, i.e., the flowers had a huge pistil surrounded with small stamens. Unfortunately, both the male and the bisexual flowers of transgenic were infertile, which might have resulted from the continuously high expression of the transgene during flower development. However, the number and position of floral organs in the transgenic flowers were well defined, which suggested that the determinacy of the floral meristem was not affected. These results suggest that fine-tuning the endogenous cytokinins can increase the flower number and the female-to-male ratio in .

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7013397PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21020640DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

flower development
16
female-to-male ratio
8
flowers transgenic
8
flower number
8
bisexual flowers
8
flower
6
flowers
6
development
5
flower-specific overproduction
4
overproduction cytokinins
4

Similar Publications

RsWOX13 promotes taproot development by activating cell division and expansion and sucrose metabolism in radish.

Plant Physiol Biochem

December 2024

National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics & Germplasm Enhancement and Utilization, Key Laboratory of Horticultural Crop Biology and Genetic Improvement (East China) of MOAR, College of Horticulture, Sanya Institute, Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhongshan Biological Breeding Laboratory, Nanjing, 210095, PR China; College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China. Electronic address:

Radish is an important annual root vegetable crop, whose yield is largely dependent on taproot thickening and development. However, the regulatory network of WOXs-mediated taproot development remains poorly understood in radish. Herein, the RsWOX13 was classified in an ancient clade of the WOX gene family that harbors a conserved homeodomain.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The role of Ancestral MicroRNAs in grass inflorescence development.

J Plant Physiol

December 2024

Waite Research Institute, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Waite Campus, Urrbrae, SA 5064, Australia; Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University-University of Adelaide Joint Centre for Agriculture and Health, State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China.

Plant inflorescences are complex, highly diverse structures whose morphology is determined in meristems that form during reproductive development. Inflorescence structure influences flower formation, and consequently grain number, and yield in crops. Correct inflorescence and flower development require tight control of gene expression via complex interplay between regulatory networks.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The evolution and development of flowers are biologically essential and of broad interest. Maize and sorghum have similar morphologies and phylogeny while harboring different inflorescence architecture. The difference in flower architecture between these two species is likely due to spatiotemporal gene expression regulation, and they are a good model for researching the evolution of flower development.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of the WRKY gene family in Mikania micrantha.

BMC Genomics

January 2025

College of Biological Science and Food Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650224, China.

Background: WRKY transcription factors (TFs) regulate plant responses to environmental stimuli and development, including flowering. Despite extensive research on different species, their role in the invasive plant Mikania micrantha remains to be explored. The aim of this study was to identify and analyze WRKY genes in M.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Dienia is a small, pantropical genus of epidendroid Malaxideae orchids. The floral lip is upwardly directed and does not serve as a landing platform for pollinators. This role has been assumed by sepals and/or gynostemium or whole inflorescence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!