Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Plant Cell logoLink to The Plant Cell
. 1995 Oct;7(10):1635–1644. doi: 10.1105/tpc.7.10.1635

Conservation of floral homeotic gene function between Arabidopsis and antirrhinum.

V F Irish 1, Y T Yamamoto 1
PMCID: PMC161024  PMID: 7580255

Abstract

Several homeotic genes controlling floral development have been isolated in both Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis. Based on the similarities in sequence and in the phenotypes elicited by mutations in some of these genes, it has been proposed that the regulatory hierarchy controlling floral development is comparable in these two species. We have performed a direct experimental test of this hypothesis by introducing a chimeric Antirrhinum Deficiens (DefA)/Arabidopsis APETALA3 (AP3) gene, under the control of the Arabidopsis AP3 promoter, into Arabidopsis. We demonstrated that this transgene is sufficient to partially complement severe mutations at the AP3 locus. In combination with a weak ap3 mutation, this transgene is capable of completely rescuing the mutant phenotype to a fully functional wild-type flower. These observations indicate that despite differences in DNA sequence and expression, DefA coding sequences can compensate for the loss of AP3 gene function. We discuss the implications of these results for the evolution of homeotic gene function in flowering plants.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (2.2 MB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bachiller D., Macías A., Duboule D., Morata G. Conservation of a functional hierarchy between mammalian and insect Hox/HOM genes. EMBO J. 1994 Apr 15;13(8):1930–1941. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06462.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bevan M. Binary Agrobacterium vectors for plant transformation. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Nov 26;12(22):8711–8721. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.22.8711. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bowman J. L., Smyth D. R., Meyerowitz E. M. Genes directing flower development in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell. 1989 Jan;1(1):37–52. doi: 10.1105/tpc.1.1.37. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Christ C., Tye B. K. Functional domains of the yeast transcription/replication factor MCM1. Genes Dev. 1991 May;5(5):751–763. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.5.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Coen E. S., Meyerowitz E. M. The war of the whorls: genetic interactions controlling flower development. Nature. 1991 Sep 5;353(6339):31–37. doi: 10.1038/353031a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Day C. D., Galgoci B. F., Irish V. F. Genetic ablation of petal and stamen primordia to elucidate cell interactions during floral development. Development. 1995 Sep;121(9):2887–2895. doi: 10.1242/dev.121.9.2887. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Huang H., Mizukami Y., Hu Y., Ma H. Isolation and characterization of the binding sequences for the product of the Arabidopsis floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS. Nucleic Acids Res. 1993 Oct 11;21(20):4769–4776. doi: 10.1093/nar/21.20.4769. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Irish V. F., Sussex I. M. Function of the apetala-1 gene during Arabidopsis floral development. Plant Cell. 1990 Aug;2(8):741–753. doi: 10.1105/tpc.2.8.741. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Jack T., Brockman L. L., Meyerowitz E. M. The homeotic gene APETALA3 of Arabidopsis thaliana encodes a MADS box and is expressed in petals and stamens. Cell. 1992 Feb 21;68(4):683–697. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90144-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kempin S. A., Mandel M. A., Yanofsky M. F. Conversion of perianth into reproductive organs by ectopic expression of the tobacco floral homeotic gene NAG1. Plant Physiol. 1993 Dec;103(4):1041–1046. doi: 10.1104/pp.103.4.1041. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kush A., Brunelle A., Shevell D., Chua N. H. The cDNA sequence of two MADS box proteins in Petunia. Plant Physiol. 1993 Jul;102(3):1051–1052. doi: 10.1104/pp.102.3.1051. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kuziora M. A., McGinnis W. A homeodomain substitution changes the regulatory specificity of the deformed protein in Drosophila embryos. Cell. 1989 Nov 3;59(3):563–571. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90039-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Ma H., Yanofsky M. F., Meyerowitz E. M. AGL1-AGL6, an Arabidopsis gene family with similarity to floral homeotic and transcription factor genes. Genes Dev. 1991 Mar;5(3):484–495. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.3.484. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Malicki J., Schughart K., McGinnis W. Mouse Hox-2.2 specifies thoracic segmental identity in Drosophila embryos and larvae. Cell. 1990 Nov 30;63(5):961–967. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90499-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mandel M. A., Bowman J. L., Kempin S. A., Ma H., Meyerowitz E. M., Yanofsky M. F. Manipulation of flower structure in transgenic tobacco. Cell. 1992 Oct 2;71(1):133–143. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90272-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Mann R. S., Hogness D. S. Functional dissection of Ultrabithorax proteins in D. melanogaster. Cell. 1990 Feb 23;60(4):597–610. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90663-y. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. McGinnis N., Kuziora M. A., McGinnis W. Human Hox-4.2 and Drosophila deformed encode similar regulatory specificities in Drosophila embryos and larvae. Cell. 1990 Nov 30;63(5):969–976. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90500-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Meyerowitz E. M., Bowman J. L., Brockman L. L., Drews G. N., Jack T., Sieburth L. E., Weigel D. A genetic and molecular model for flower development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Dev Suppl. 1991;1:157–167. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Okamoto H., Yano A., Shiraishi H., Okada K., Shimura Y. Genetic complementation of a floral homeotic mutation, apetala3, with an Arabidopsis thaliana gene homologous to DEFICIENS of Antirrhinum majus. Plant Mol Biol. 1994 Oct;26(1):465–472. doi: 10.1007/BF00039556. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Passmore S., Maine G. T., Elble R., Christ C., Tye B. K. Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein involved in plasmid maintenance is necessary for mating of MAT alpha cells. J Mol Biol. 1988 Dec 5;204(3):593–606. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(88)90358-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Pnueli L., Abu-Abeid M., Zamir D., Nacken W., Schwarz-Sommer Z., Lifschitz E. The MADS box gene family in tomato: temporal expression during floral development, conserved secondary structures and homology with homeotic genes from Antirrhinum and Arabidopsis. Plant J. 1991 Sep;1(2):255–266. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Schwarz-Sommer Z., Hue I., Huijser P., Flor P. J., Hansen R., Tetens F., Lönnig W. E., Saedler H., Sommer H. Characterization of the Antirrhinum floral homeotic MADS-box gene deficiens: evidence for DNA binding and autoregulation of its persistent expression throughout flower development. EMBO J. 1992 Jan;11(1):251–263. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1992.tb05048.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Shiraishi H., Okada K., Shimura Y. Nucleotide sequences recognized by the AGAMOUS MADS domain of Arabidopsis thaliana in vitro. Plant J. 1993 Aug;4(2):385–398. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-313x.1993.04020385.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Sommer H., Beltrán J. P., Huijser P., Pape H., Lönnig W. E., Saedler H., Schwarz-Sommer Z. Deficiens, a homeotic gene involved in the control of flower morphogenesis in Antirrhinum majus: the protein shows homology to transcription factors. EMBO J. 1990 Mar;9(3):605–613. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08152.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Tröbner W., Ramirez L., Motte P., Hue I., Huijser P., Lönnig W. E., Saedler H., Sommer H., Schwarz-Sommer Z. GLOBOSA: a homeotic gene which interacts with DEFICIENS in the control of Antirrhinum floral organogenesis. EMBO J. 1992 Dec;11(13):4693–4704. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1992.tb05574.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Valvekens D., Van Montagu M., Van Lijsebettens M. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of Arabidopsis thaliana root explants by using kanamycin selection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Aug;85(15):5536–5540. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.15.5536. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Yamamoto Y. T., Conkling M. A., Sussex I. M., Irish V. F. An Arabidopsis cDNA related to animal phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C genes. Plant Physiol. 1995 Mar;107(3):1029–1030. doi: 10.1104/pp.107.3.1029. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. van der Krol A. R., Brunelle A., Tsuchimoto S., Chua N. H. Functional analysis of petunia floral homeotic MADS box gene pMADS1. Genes Dev. 1993 Jul;7(7A):1214–1228. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.7a.1214. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Plant Cell are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES