Multiple AGAMOUS homologs from cucumber and petunia differ in their ability to induce reproductive organ fate

Plant Cell. 1998 Feb;10(2):171-82. doi: 10.1105/tpc.10.2.171.

Abstract

The C function in Arabidopsis, which specifies stamen and carpel identity, is represented by a single gene called AGAMOUS (AG). From both petunia and cucumber, two MADS box genes have been isolated. Both share a high degree of amino acid sequence identity with the Arabidopsis AG protein. Their roles in specifying stamen and carpel identity have been studied by ectopic expression in petunia, resulting in plants with different floral phenotypes. Cucumber MADS box gene 1 (CUM1) induced severe homeotic transformations of sepals into carpelloid structures and petals into stamens, which is similar to ectopic AG expression in Arabidopsis plants. Overexpression of the other cucumber AG homolog, CUM10, resulted in plants with partial transformations of the petals into antheroid structures, indicating that CUM10 is also able to promote floral organ identity. From the two petunia AG homologs pMADS3 and Floral Binding Protein gene 6 (FBP6), only pMADS3 was able to induce homeotic transformations of sepals and petals. Ectopic expression of both pMADS3 and FBP6, as occurrs in the petunia homeotic mutant blind, phenocopies the pMADS3 single overexpresser plants, indicating that there is no additive effect of concerted expression. This study demonstrates that in petunia and cucumber, multiple AG homologs exist, although they differ in their ability to induce reproductive organ fate.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • AGAMOUS Protein, Arabidopsis
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Arabidopsis / chemistry
  • Arabidopsis / genetics
  • Arabidopsis / physiology*
  • Cucumis sativus / chemistry
  • Cucumis sativus / genetics
  • Cucumis sativus / physiology*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / physiology*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
  • MADS Domain Proteins
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plant Proteins / chemistry
  • Plant Proteins / genetics
  • Plant Proteins / physiology*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Solanaceae / chemistry
  • Solanaceae / genetics
  • Solanaceae / physiology*
  • Transcription Factors / chemistry
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / physiology

Substances

  • AGAMOUS Protein, Arabidopsis
  • CUM protein, Cucumis sativus
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • MADS Domain Proteins
  • Plant Proteins
  • Transcription Factors

Associated data

  • GENBANK/AF035438
  • GENBANK/AF035439