Floriculture crops can lose their aesthetic quality due to water deficit during postproduction. Calcium is a secondary messenger in plant stress signaling, and the treatment of calcium has been proposed alleviate damage by various abiotic stresses. The objective this research was evaluate application methods delay wilting under deficiency three species bedding plants: viola (Viola cornuta), imp...

From a random transposon mutagenesis experiment, using Petunia line W138, a seed-specific linoleic acid mutant was isolated. The tagged gene was cloned and identified as a microsomal Delta(12) desaturase. Expression of the gene, however, was constitutive and not, as might have been expected, seed-specific. Moreover, self-fertilized homozygous mutants still contain 40% 18:2 in the seed lipid fra...

Flowers present a complex display of signals to attract pollinators, including the emission of floral volatiles. Volatile emission is highly regulated, and many species restrict emissions to specific times of the day. This rhythmic emission of scent is regulated by the circadian clock; however, the mechanisms have remained unknown. In Petunia hybrida, volatile emissions are dominated by product...

Flowering plants have developed many ways to arrange their flowers. A flowerbearing branch or system of branches is called an inflorescence. The number of flowers that an inflorescence contains ranges from a single flower to endless flower-clusters. Over the last centuries, botanists have classified inflorescences based on their morphology, which has led to an unfortunate maze of complex botani...

Petunias (Petunia hybrida cv. 'Mitchell') accumulate free proline (Pro) under drought-stress conditions. It is therefore believed that Pro acts as an osmoprotectant in plants subjected to drought conditions. Petunia plants were transformed by Delta(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase genes (AtP5CS from Arabidopsis thaliana L. or OsP5CS from Oryza sativa L.). The transgenic plants accumulated ...

Phenylalanine (Phe) is a precursor for a large group of plant specialized metabolites, including the fragrant volatile benzenoid-phenylpropanoids (BPs). In plants, the main pathway leading to production of Phe is via arogenate, while the pathway via phenylpyruvate (PPY) is considered merely an alternative route. Unlike plants, in most microorganisms the only pathway leading to the synthesis of ...

Antirrhinum majus DEFICIENS (DEF) and Arabidopsis thaliana APETALA3 (AP3) MADS box proteins are required to specify petal and stamen identity. Sampling of DEF/AP3 homologs revealed two types of DEF/AP3 proteins, euAP3 and TOMATO MADS BOX GENE6 (TM6), within core eudicots, and we show functional divergence in Petunia hybrida euAP3 and TM6 proteins. Petunia DEF (also known as GREEN PETALS [GP]) i...

The lipid-rich, sticky exudate covering the stigma of solanaceous species such as tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and petunia (Petunia hybrida) contains several proteins, of which only some have been characterized to date. Proteome analysis of the stigmatic exudate in both species revealed the presence of a cysteine-rich, slightly acidic 12-kD protein called stigma-specific protein 1 (STIG1). In bo...

In plants, benzoic acid (BA) is believed to be synthesized from Phe through shortening of the propyl side chain by two carbons. It is hypothesized that this chain shortening occurs via either a beta-oxidative or non-beta-oxidative pathway. Previous in vivo isotope labeling and metabolic flux analysis of the benzenoid network in petunia (Petunia hybrida) flowers revealed that both pathways yield...

According to the ABC(DE) model for flower development, C-genes are required for stamen and carpel development and floral determinacy, and D-genes were proposed to play a unique role in ovule development. Both C- and D-genes belong to the AGAMOUS (AG) subfamily of MADS box transcription factors. We show that the petunia (Petunia hybrida) C-clade genes PETUNIA MADS BOX GENE3 and FLORAL BINDING PR...