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Abstract Detail


Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo)

Avino, Mariano [1], Kramer, Elena M [2], Donohue, Kathleen [3], Hall, Jocelyn [4].

Expression data reveal insights in Brassiceae (Brassicaceae) fruit diversification.

Systematists and evolutionary biologists have long been intrigued by the occurrence of homoplasy among closely related taxa. This phenomenon raises the questions of what the underlying genetic basis for the homoplasy might be and what factors contribute to the capacity of certain traits to vary over short phylogenetic distances. Members of tribe Brassiceae (Brassicaceae) exhibit fundamental differences in fruit morphology relative to the typical silique of Arabidopsis, including indehiscence and presence of a joint that laterally bisects the fruit into two heteromorphic segments, a syndrome called heteroarthrocarpy. Two related species, Cakile lanceolata and Erucaria erucarioides, differ in dehiscence of proximal segments and abscission of the joint. To understand genetic differences underlying these fruit types, we have taken a comparative candidate gene approach, focusing on the genetic pathway controlling fruit morphology and dehiscence in Arabidopsis. Expression studies reveal that indehiscence is correlated with the loss of SHATTERPROOF2, ALCATRAZ and FRUITFUL expression. These data also indicate conservation in pathways determining dehiscence between Arabidopsis and Erucaria. Thus, this work provides insights into both conservation and modifications in the genetic pathway that functions to produce heteroarthrocarpy in Brassiceae.

Broader Impacts:


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1 - University of Alberta, Biological Sciences, CW 405 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
2 - Harvard University, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, 16 Divinity Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
3 - Duke University, Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
4 - University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, Room: B 608, Biological Sciences Bldg., Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E9, Canada

Keywords:
Brassicaceae
Fruit
Arabidopsis
dehiscence
SHATTERPROOF
FRUITFULL.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 5
Location: 554A/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 8:45 AM
Number: 5002
Abstract ID:256


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