Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1994 Mar 15;13(6):1443–1449. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06398.x

Ectopic expression of a single homeotic gene, the Petunia gene green petal, is sufficient to convert sepals to petaloid organs.

U Halfter 1, N Ali 1, J Stockhaus 1, L Ren 1, N H Chua 1
PMCID: PMC394962  PMID: 7907980

Abstract

Genetic studies in Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum showed that petal determination requires the concomitant expression of two homeotic functions, A and B, whereas the A function alone determines sepal identity. The B function is represented by at least two genes. The Petunia homeotic gene green petal (gp) is essential for petal determination as demonstrated by a Petunia gp mutant that has sepals instead of petals. We have used ectopic expression of the gp gene as a tool to study flower development in Petunia. CaMV 35S-gp expression leads to homeotic conversion of sepals into petaloid organs when expressed early in development. This demonstrates that a single homeotic gene is sufficient to induce homeotic conversion of sepals to petals, suggesting that other petal determining genes are regulated in part by ectopically expressed gp. Indeed, two other MADS-box-containing genes, pmads 2 and fbp 1, which show homology to the Antirrhinum B function gene globosa, are activated in the converted petal tissue. Furthermore, our data provide evidence for autoregulation of gp expression in the petaloid tissue and uncover the role of gp in fusion of petal tissues.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

1444Image
on p.1444
1445Image
on p.1445
1446Image
on p.1446
1446Image
on p.1446
1447Image
on p.1447

Selected References

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

  1. A simple and general method for transferring genes into plants. Science. 1985 Mar 8;227(4691):1229–1231. doi: 10.1126/science.227.4691.1229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Angenent G. C., Busscher M., Franken J., Mol J. N., van Tunen A. J. Differential expression of two MADS box genes in wild-type and mutant petunia flowers. Plant Cell. 1992 Aug;4(8):983–993. doi: 10.1105/tpc.4.8.983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Benfey P. N., Chua N. H. The Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S Promoter: Combinatorial Regulation of Transcription in Plants. Science. 1990 Nov 16;250(4983):959–966. doi: 10.1126/science.250.4983.959. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bienz M., Tremml G. Domain of Ultrabithorax expression in Drosophila visceral mesoderm from autoregulation and exclusion. Nature. 1988 Jun 9;333(6173):576–578. doi: 10.1038/333576a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bowman J. L., Smyth D. R., Meyerowitz E. M. Genetic interactions among floral homeotic genes of Arabidopsis. Development. 1991 May;112(1):1–20. doi: 10.1242/dev.112.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bradley D., Carpenter R., Sommer H., Hartley N., Coen E. Complementary floral homeotic phenotypes result from opposite orientations of a transposon at the plena locus of Antirrhinum. Cell. 1993 Jan 15;72(1):85–95. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90052-r. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. 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]
  8. Coen E. S., Romero J. M., Doyle S., Elliott R., Murphy G., Carpenter R. floricaula: a homeotic gene required for flower development in antirrhinum majus. Cell. 1990 Dec 21;63(6):1311–1322. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90426-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Drews G. N., Bowman J. L., Meyerowitz E. M. Negative regulation of the Arabidopsis homeotic gene AGAMOUS by the APETALA2 product. Cell. 1991 Jun 14;65(6):991–1002. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90551-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dubois E., Bercy J., Messenguy F. Characterization of two genes, ARGRI and ARGRIII required for specific regulation of arginine metabolism in yeast. Mol Gen Genet. 1987 Apr;207(1):142–148. doi: 10.1007/BF00331501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Herskowitz I. A regulatory hierarchy for cell specialization in yeast. Nature. 1989 Dec 14;342(6251):749–757. doi: 10.1038/342749a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. 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]
  13. Jefferson R. A., Kavanagh T. A., Bevan M. W. GUS fusions: beta-glucuronidase as a sensitive and versatile gene fusion marker in higher plants. EMBO J. 1987 Dec 20;6(13):3901–3907. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02730.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Jiang J., Hoey T., Levine M. Autoregulation of a segmentation gene in Drosophila: combinatorial interaction of the even-skipped homeo box protein with a distal enhancer element. Genes Dev. 1991 Feb;5(2):265–277. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.2.265. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. 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]
  16. Kuziora M. A., McGinnis W. Autoregulation of a Drosophila homeotic selector gene. Cell. 1988 Nov 4;55(3):477–485. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90034-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. 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]
  18. Mandel M. A., Gustafson-Brown C., Savidge B., Yanofsky M. F. Molecular characterization of the Arabidopsis floral homeotic gene APETALA1. Nature. 1992 Nov 19;360(6401):273–277. doi: 10.1038/360273a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Mizukami Y., Ma H. Ectopic expression of the floral homeotic gene AGAMOUS in transgenic Arabidopsis plants alters floral organ identity. Cell. 1992 Oct 2;71(1):119–131. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90271-d. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Murray M. G., Thompson W. F. Rapid isolation of high molecular weight plant DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 Oct 10;8(19):4321–4325. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.19.4321. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Norman C., Runswick M., Pollock R., Treisman R. Isolation and properties of cDNA clones encoding SRF, a transcription factor that binds to the c-fos serum response element. Cell. 1988 Dec 23;55(6):989–1003. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90244-9. [DOI] [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. Schwarz-Sommer Z., Huijser P., Nacken W., Saedler H., Sommer H. Genetic Control of Flower Development by Homeotic Genes in Antirrhinum majus. Science. 1990 Nov 16;250(4983):931–936. doi: 10.1126/science.250.4983.931. [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. Weigel D., Alvarez J., Smyth D. R., Yanofsky M. F., Meyerowitz E. M. LEAFY controls floral meristem identity in Arabidopsis. Cell. 1992 May 29;69(5):843–859. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90295-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Weigel D., Meyerowitz E. M. Activation of floral homeotic genes in Arabidopsis. Science. 1993 Sep 24;261(5129):1723–1726. doi: 10.1126/science.261.5129.1723. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Yanofsky M. F., Ma H., Bowman J. L., Drews G. N., Feldmann K. A., Meyerowitz E. M. The protein encoded by the Arabidopsis homeotic gene agamous resembles transcription factors. Nature. 1990 Jul 5;346(6279):35–39. doi: 10.1038/346035a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. 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 EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES