Abstract Detail

Developmental and Structural Section

Pabon Mora, Natalia [1], Litt, Amy [2].

The role of APETALA1/FRUITFULL genes in non-core eudicots.

Gene duplication occurs frequently in angiosperms and has been postulated as a potential source of morphological variation as a result of the expansion and functional diversification of gene families. Interestingly, several MADS-box gene lineages involved in flower development have duplicated during the diversification of flowering plants. However, little is known about the significance of these gene duplications in terms of gene functional evolution and its correlation with phenotypic variation. In the APETALA1/FRUITFULL gene lineage, a major duplication coincides with the origin of the core eudicots which resulted in the euFUL and the euAP1 clades. A second duplication coincides with the diversification of the Brassicaceae resulting in a unique gene complement in Arabidopsis. AP1/FUL copies in Arabidopsis are involved in flowering time and function redundantly in specifying floral meristem identity, but function independently in sepal and petal identity (APETALA1) and in proper fruit development and determinacy (FRUITFULL). Evidence regarding expression and function suggests that these functions are largely conserved in core eudicots, but the role of APETALA1 as an “A- function (sepal and petal identity)” gene, as stated in the ABC model, seems to be a Brassicaceae-specific phenomenon. Proteins that predate the duplication (FUL-like) show sequence similarity to euFUL proteins. Function of FUL-like genes has been studied only in temperate grasses, where they seem to play a crucial role in the transition to reproductive meristems after vernalization. In order to better understand functional evolution in this gene lineage we are exploring the expression and function of FUL-like genes in the basal eudicots Papaver somniferum and Eschscholzia californica (Papaveraceae). Our data show that FUL-like genes have pleiotropic roles during plant development and suggest that subfunctionalization might have occurred after the core eudicot duplication. In this context we explore morphological features that are related to the function of FUL-like genes in basal eudicots and we discuss how protein networks might have diverged and expanded in core eudicots.

Broader Impacts:

1 - Graduate Center CUNY/ New York Botanical Garden, Plant Sciences, 200th St and Southern Blvd, Plant Research Laboratory, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA
2 - The New York Botanical Garden, Plant Genomics, 200th St and Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY, 10458, USA

Keywords:
APETALA1
AP1/FUL
basal eudicots
Eschscholzia
FRUITFULL
FUL-like
gene duplication
subfunctionalization
Papaver
Papaveraceae.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 29
Location: 551A/Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
Time: 8:15 AM
Number: 29001
Abstract ID:152