Flower Development in Petunia.

MAEWEST Expression in Flower Development of Two Petunia Species

Changes in flower morphology may influence the frequency and specificity of animal visitors. In Petunia (Solanaceae), adaptation to different pollinators is one of the factors leading to species diversification within the genus. This study provides evidence that differential expression patterns of MAWEWEST (MAW) homologs in different Petunia species may be associated with adaptive changes in fl...

Petunia Ap2-like genes and their role in flower and seed development.

We have isolated three Apetala2 (Ap2)-like genes from petunia and studied their expression patterns by in situ hybridization. PhAp2A has a high sequence similarity to the A function gene Ap2 from Arabidopsis and a similar expression pattern during flower development, suggesting that they are cognate orthologs. PhAp2B and PhAp2C encode for AP2-like proteins that belong to a different subgroup of...

BEN, ROB, and the Making of a Petunia Flower.

Flower development

Plants that bear flowers are called Angiosperms. With around 300,000 species, they represent the largest and most successful group in the green kingdom. Flowers contain one or more female organs, or carpels, in their center. Carpels enclose the ovules, and later the seeds. Stamens, the male pollenbearing organs, surround the carpels. Sexual organs are in turn surrounded by vegetative organs (th...

The duplicated B-class heterodimer model: whorl-specific effects and complex genetic interactions in Petunia hybrida flower development.

In both Antirrhinum (Antirrhinum majus) and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), the floral B-function, which specifies petal and stamen development, is embedded in a heterodimer consisting of one DEFICIENS (DEF)/APETALA3 (AP3)-like and one GLOBOSA (GLO)/PISTILLATA (PI)-like MADS box protein. Here, we demonstrate that gene duplications in both the DEF/AP3 and GLO/PI lineages in Petunia hybrida (...